Floyd County EMS advisory group recommends $490,000 levy for November ballot

The Floyd County EMS Advisory Council on July 16 recommended that the Board of Supervisors place a five-year EMS tax levy request of up to $490,000 on the November ballot. The motion, made by voting member Dawn Staudt and seconded by Dawnett Willis, passed and will be forwarded to the Board for consideration.

The recommendation follows an Ambulance Commission vote, described at the council meeting by Keith Starr, to proceed with Mark Kuhn’s proposal to request $450,000 for the levy; the minutes note that figure was “$50,000 more than Kuhn suggested,” a discrepancy recorded in the meeting text. Starr said the plan envisions a five-year periodicity and that Floyd County Medical Center, Floyd County and the City of Charles City would split any additional costs equally.

Dawn Staudt, a voting member of the advisory council, said the current discussion has focused largely on the private ambulance contract with AMR rather than on how the levy would strengthen EMS across the county. "This levy needs to benefit all the communities in the county," Staudt said, and she warned that asking the hospital for additional money would be only a temporary fix. She noted that Nora Springs faces longer ambulance drive times — about 25 minutes even when running emergent — and that more funding is needed to build local service capacity.

Marty Parcher, listed as a non-voting member, questioned why the council was taking recommendations from the Ambulance Commission or the Board of Supervisors when the advisory council was created to advise the Board. Brandy Molitor noted that Nashua Ambulance also serves parts of the county; Keith Starr said the response-area boundaries for private providers were drawn before current members worked in the county and called for more research on territory assignments.

The council’s formal motion set a cap “not to exceed $490,000 total collected annually” and specified a five-year periodicity. The minutes record that the council’s recommendation will be submitted to the Board of Supervisors; the council did not adopt a levy or change tax rates itself. Council members recorded that the Floyd County Medical Center Board of Trustees will hold a special meeting to consider the hospital’s financial position related to the request.

Next steps: the Board of Supervisors will receive the advisory council’s recommendation and decide whether to place the levy question on the November ballot. The advisory council indicated it will revisit agenda items after the medical center’s trustees convene.