Jefferson County residents to vote on EMS levy

FAIRFIELD – The Jefferson County Board of Supervisors will place a ballot measure up for vote in November, asking county residents to create an emergency medical services levy.

The new property tax levy would be 75 cents per $1,000 of taxable valuation. However, the supervisors want the public to know that they are planning to cut spending on other funds, and in fact residents should see their taxes decrease after the changes are made.

The ballot measure needs 60 percent approval to pass, and if it does pass, the county will remove a 27-cent tax levy that goes to the hospital, reduce the general supplemental levy by 48 cents, and reduce the general basic levy by 32 cents, for a total of $1.07 in tax cuts. These tax cuts, combined with the new EMS levy of 75 cents, would mean that a county resident’s property tax bill would drop 32 cents per $1,000 of taxable valuation.

If approved, this EMS levy would take effect July 1, 2025 and last 15 years before it would be voted on again.

Supervisor Lee Dimmitt said he and the other supervisors plan to meet with organizations such as Farm Bureau and with the city councils in the county to educate them on this proposed levy.

“This will allow us to shift the burden of running the ambulance onto the EMS levy, and unburden other levies so we can do property tax reductions,” Dimmitt said. “Overall, this will be a property tax reduction.”

Dimmitt said the EMS levy will go directly to the Jefferson County Ambulance Service, though it could be spent on other EMS needs such as buildings, supplies, vehicles and other equipment.

Dimmitt said one advantage of moving the funding for the ambulance under its own levy would be that it would no longer count against the 2 percent allowable growth limit imposed by the state legislature.

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com

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