Choctaw County commission seeks to reallocate 1¢ sales tax for EMS, 911 and volunteer fire departments

Choctaw County Commissioners on Tuesday voted unanimously to ask the legislative delegation to amend Act 94-550 so the county’s additional 1¢ sales and use tax for emergency services is distributed among multiple public-safety entities rather than going solely to the county EMS board.

Under the drafted resolution read at the meeting, the proposed allocation would set EMS at 50% of proceeds, the Choctaw County 9-1-1 board at 25% and the remaining 25% divided equally among all active county volunteer fire departments and the Choctaw County Rescue Squad. The commission asked the legislative delegation to draft and introduce local legislation to accomplish the change.

The chairman read the resolution text aloud during the meeting: “50% EMS board, 25% Choctaw County 9-1-1 board, and 25% divided equally between all active county volunteer fire departments and the Choctaw County Rescue Squad,” and then moved for its adoption. The motion (moved by Commissioner Mose; second by Commissioner Jackson) passed unanimously.

Commissioners cited large cash reserves maintained by the EMS board and operational funding shortfalls elsewhere. The commission noted that the EMS board’s accounts hold more than $3,200,000 and that the EMS budget showed a planned carryforward of about $930,000 for the upcoming fiscal year, figures the chairman cited during the discussion. The resolution’s sponsor told commissioners he believed the original 1994 tax was intended to fund ambulance operations but argued that other first-response agencies also require stable, predictable funding.

9-1-1 board representatives and staff expressed support for the change. The 9-1-1 Director thanked the commission at the meeting: “I just wanted to stand up here publicly, thank you, to talk to family commission for what they’ve just done on behalf of 9-1-1 fire rescue,” the 9-1-1 Director said, and added the funding shift would reduce the need to solicit other contributions from towns and volunteer departments.

The commission also approved a number of consent motions and administrative items during the same session with minimal discussion. Those votes included approving an invoice to the grant-management firm for CDBG startup services for Melvin Cutoff Road ($13,200, to be reimbursed through Adeaca), and multiple board appointments: Sakitha Mitchell and Katie Barfield to the Parks and Recreation Board, Morgan Reynolds to North Choctaw Water, and reappointment of William Drinker to the Choctaw Edna Water Authority. All of those motions passed unanimously.

Commissioners said the resolution will be transmitted to the county’s legislative delegation with a request for local legislation to implement the new distribution. The motion recorded that the change would be drafted and introduced by the legislative delegation; the resolution itself does not by itself change state law or tax distributions without subsequent legislative action.