EMS levy won’t make it onto November ballot

WASHINGTON — Washington County Supervisors on Tuesday tabled plans to finalize language for a ballot issue that would authorize new, emergency medical service-funding property taxes, effectively nixing a plan to put the matter before voters in the coming general election on Nov. 5.

The switch-up was unexpected, after weeks of preparation to bring the issue to polls in November, and to approve its ballot language a day ahead of the state deadline to do so Aug. 28.

Supervisor Marcus Fedler, the board of supervisors’ functional liaison to the EMS Advisory Board, said officials discovered the steps required to establish such an advisory board had changed since Washington County’s first met in 2021.

The supervisor said the procedural issue went unnoticed until officials began preparing ballot language, and worried it could create legal obstacles to the proposed levy, even if voters approved it at the polls.

“It’s a little bit frustrating, we established it the way it is, and then we find out later that modifications have been made,” Fedler said. “It just wasn’t on our radar, I guess. I wasn’t on the board when this was established in 2021, but it was changed, and apparently when we went through this process, it didn’t resonate with the advisory council or this board or anybody else that there was a difference in how the process worked.”

Emergency responders around Washington County have long called for the levy, which would declare EMS resources an “essential service,” and establish revenue to offset growing equipment and training costs for the local government’s ambulance service, as well as city-specific volunteer first-responder groups.

State law only allows the proposed levy — which advocates have suggested between 50 and 75 cents per thousand dollars of valuation — to take effect only if it wins approval from at least 60% of voters in an election. It’s not clear how soon it might go to the ballot box, however, without the planned November election date.

Supervisor Marcus Fedler said the county should wait until next year’s general election, to ensure the sizable levy gets input from as many voters as possible. Even in off-year elections like 2025, routine general elections typically draw far higher turnout than one-off special elections.

“If it were up to me, I don’t want to do a special election,” he said. “I’d love to have done it in a presidential election year … but it’s possible this board will vote to have it before (next) November.”

Alternatively, Iowa law allows special elections for ballot measures on the first Tuesday in March or second Tuesday of September every year. That means an election solely for EMS funding could be less than six months away.

That’s the preference of some advocates, including EMS Advisory Council Chair Jim Lester, who said waiting until September or November would delay funding by over an additional year, since Iowa law only allows the levy’s enactment in the fiscal year after its approved by voters.

“I’m hopeful that they can move forward and we can offer that to the public in March so the QRS services can get some very vital funding,” he said. “The funds would be available sooner, if it was done in March … but ultimately, the advisory council makes recommendations. It’s the board of supervisors that have the final say in setting the amount and deciding when they’re going to offer it for voter approval.”

Some county officials have expressed skepticism about the item passing at all in a special election, where it would only draw strongly energized voters in a county that historically opposes higher taxes. Supervisor Stan Stoops said Tuesday that special elections typically, “do not go the way we want.”

The tabled referendum is the latest delay in a series of setbacks for the Washington County EMS Advisory Council. After being established in 2021, the group paused its efforts in 2022 to wait out leadership changes at the ambulance service, which ultimately took over a year to resolve before the county settled legal disputes with its former ambulance director, and more recently hired a new one.

In recent months, as discussions resumed, leaders went back and forth over whether the county should ask voters for a flat, 50-cent levy or a more flexible one that authorized levies of up to 75 cents, as needed from year to year.

“We’re exploring all the options, and it’s unfortunate that it can’t make the November ballot,” Lester said. “I think we’ve done our due diligence in making our recommendation, and I think we’ve provided information that was relevant and necessary for them to move on.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com