Daviess County hears hospital CEO warn rising costs are straining local EMS; council reviews local tax options

Justin Harris, chief executive officer of Daviess Community Hospital, told the Daviess County council that rising costs and stagnant reimbursements threaten the county’s ambulance and emergency services and that the hospital is working to keep more care local.

Harris said the hospital’s EMS program, launched in February 2019, has served more than 30,000 patients and that labor and equipment costs have climbed sharply. “Salaries and wages … has gone up over 25%,” Harris said, adding that repairs and maintenance costs have increased “over 50%.” He told the council that reimbursement increases have not matched cost growth and summarized the gap this way: reimbursements have grown “roughly a fifth” of the rise in costs.

The remarks came as council members described a statewide property‑tax change that will reduce local property tax revenue and shift more long‑term funding responsibility to counties. Council members and a Baker Tilly consultant, Jason Simler, presented local income tax scenarios the county could consider to offset projected shortfalls. Simler’s presentation showed that a 0.09% local income tax dedicated to EMS would add about $58 a year for a worker earning $68,000; a 0.13% public safety levy on his projections would raise about $83.78 for that same earner.

Nut graf: The county faces a projected revenue loss from recent state property‑tax changes and is exploring options — including local income taxes,…