Jefferson County EMS levy passes with 68% approval

FAIRFIELD – Jefferson County voters approved a ballot measure on Tuesday, Nov. 5 to create an EMS levy to fund the ambulance service.

The levy needed 60 percent approval to pass, and it received 68 percent. The “yes” votes totaled 5,298 and the “no” votes totaled 2,470. Of the 8,436 ballots cast in Jefferson County, 664 voters did not vote on the EMS ballot measure, and four voters filled in the circles for both “yes” and “no.”

The ballot measure asked voters if they wanted to create a new EMS levy, which would be 75 cents per $1,000 of taxable valuation. Money raised from the levy would go toward Jefferson County Ambulance Service, which became a county-run service in October 2023.

The ballot measure had the blessing of the Jefferson County Board of Supervisors. Supervisor Lee Dimmitt told The Union in the lead-up to the vote that he wanted the public to understand that this would not be a tax increase, because county residents were already paying for the ambulance through other taxes. In fact, because the Jefferson County Health Center was dropping its 27-cent levy for ambulance service, and the county was cutting its general supplement 48 cents and its general basic property tax 32 cents, taxpayers would end up paying 32 cents less overall if the 75-cent levy were passed.

The new EMS levy will take effect July 1, 2025 and last 15 years before it will be voted on again.

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