Washington County sets date for EMS levy

WASHINGTON — County supervisors last week formally approved a date for a long-discussed levy that would fund local emergency medical services and emergency communications infrastructure, setting the ballot issue’s election date on Nov. 4, 2025.

It’s the same date as every other general election in the nation this year. And while Nov. 4 has held consensus as the ideal date informally for the last several months, the county initially planned to formalize the date in September, closer to Election Day.

EMS Advisory Council Chair Jim Lester said members of the advisory group had lobbied for a faster timeline in the election-setting process, even though it didn’t change the planned date of the election itself.

“Why are we waiting until September to do the next step?” he said in an interview July 15, a week before the supervisor meeting. “We’d like to get that put out sooner, so we can do some public education on the need for it … we’re hoping they can get that officially set, so we’re not up against the fence for getting everything done on time, because we’ve been there before.”

At the polls, the ballot issue will need at least 60% approval from voters to pass. If it does, the measure would authorize new property taxes of up to 75 cents a year per thousand dollars of valuation, all of which would be directed to the county’s ambulance department, quick response volunteers and emergency communications infrastructure.

According to the ballot language, the levy would be set at 50 cents during its first year in effect. The fluctuating tax would stay on the books for 15 years.

Officials say the local emergency medical response system is rapidly losing financial sustainability, and that the new tax would throw a monetary lifeline to the network of rapid-response volunteers and professionals.

Altenhofen said the money could help pay for equipment, and potentially for staffing, as local fast-response teams lose their volunteer members. In West Chester, where Altenhofen helped establish a QRS group decades ago, its roster has dropped from around 25 members at its peak to just five today, all of whom work outside of town.

“I would hate to see Washington County, who has one of the state’s very first county-wide EMS systems, be dissolved because we can’t fund it,” said Katrina Altenhofen, a member of the EMS advisory committee and a former interim county ambulance director. “If you want to continue to have the EMS system that we have in Washington County, you need to fund it.”

Previous attempts to put the question on ballots fell through in Washington County, once because supervisors declined to approve under-75-cent ballot language, and once because the county fell short of state-imposed deadlines to prepare and publicize ballot measures. Officials also expressed skepticism about putting the question on ballots for a special election earlier this year, saying they wanted input from more voters expected to turn out in a general election.

Local officials and advocates have framed the current ballot language as a middle ground between camps that wanted the maximum taxing authority, and others that sought a more controlled levy to avoid overlap with township-specific taxes and voter sentiments in general.

“I think the 50 cents is a good start, and I do like the language,” Lester said in an interview shortly after supervisors approved ballot question’s wording in early July. “I think that will give the advisory council, in future years, the ability to … not increase the taxes and not increase the funding if it’s not necessary.”

Other counties nearby have taken similar steps in recent years.

In September, Henry County voters approved a similar EMS tax. Their ballot measure implemented a 75-cent levy for the next 15 years with the caveat that it couldn’t generate over $1.1 million. If the levy ever generates more than that, it would automatically be reduced to ensure total revenue stays within the limit.

Jefferson County — Washington County’s other neighbor to the south — saw its own 75-cent EMS levy take effect on July 1, after it won 68% approval on Election Day in 2024. That election was an outlier, however, as supervisors said the move would end the need for other taxes, resulting in a counterintuitive 32-cent reduction in tax askings.

Across the state, a dozen counties asked voters the same question on election night last year, for varying amounts and with varying results. Those asking for 75-cent levies saw wins in Jefferson and Tama counties, but failures in Page, Guthrie and Buchanan counties, according to the Iowans for Tax Relief Foundation.

Despite the challenges in Washington and other counties, Altenhofen said members of the now three-year-old advisory group were optimistic that this push would go all the way.

“Our EMS council, they’re worried, they’re tired,” she said in an early-July interview. “We have been working hard on this every single day, and we continued to feel like we weren’t getting anywhere. And finally, we are moving forward.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com