The Henry County Council opened a public hearing Tuesday on a proposed increase to the countys Emergency Medical Services local income tax (EMS LIT) and closed the hearing without public comment, then voted to decline raising the rate.

Council members discussed the range of options and several funding alternatives that had been considered during budget work sessions. One council member asked how much the proposed increase would affect typical taxpayers; a colleague calculated that increasing the rate from 0.04 to 0.10 would cost a taxpayer with $50,000 in taxable income about $30 a year.

Council members said the 2026 proposed budget already includes general fund transfers that the council expects to use for EMS. One council member said the budget adds about $400,000 from the general fund to satisfy a proposed contract with Newcastle and leaves roughly $110,000 for distribution to the other two EMS providers in the county.

Council member Bobby, acting as EMS liaison, told the council the department had been budgeted on the premise of not raising taxes. After the public hearing concluded with no speakers, a council member made a motion (recorded in the meeting transcript as, “I make the motion that we didn't decline to increase the EMS win.”) that the council not raise the EMS LIT rate; the motion was seconded and carried on a voice vote.

Council members also noted that the states changes to local income tax guidance in 2028 (described in the meeting as a pending statutory rework) will require reassessing how LITs are structured going forward. No rate increase was adopted at the meeting, and no new ordinance raising the EMS LIT rate was enacted.

Why it matters: The EMS LIT funds local emergency medical services; the councils decision preserves the current tax rate for the near term while county leaders continue to plan how to respond to state-level funding changes and future contract needs.

What remains open: Future budgets and state law changes (noted in the meeting as taking effect in 2028) could require revisiting EMS funding levels.