LEE COUNTY - Lee County voters will vote in March to determine whether ambulance services in the county will be legally defined as essential services.
At Monday's regular Lee County Board of Supervisors meeting, the board voted 5-0 to put the measure on a ballot in March.
The county would need a supermajority or 60% of voters to approve the measure. If approved, it would require the county to provide ambulance services, and would open the door for a levy of up to 75 cents/$1,000 of assessed valuation within the county.
The approval Monday was the first of three readings of the resolution that is required for the ballot to be placed in front of county voters.
The code around setting EMS services as essential also requires the creation of an advisory board that would recommend the required levy necessary to support the operations of the service.
"The goal is to set up a special election next spring. We would also need 60%, which can be tough," said Matt Pflug, board chairman.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed legislation in June of 2021 allowing counties to determine if EMS services would be "essential services". Until that time only police and fire were mandated essential services in the state.
Ron Fedler, who made the motion to put the measure on the ballot, said he it should have been law a long time ago.
"I never could understand why it was never considered essential services... This is just a good thing for everybody," he said.
County Budget Director Cindy Renstrom said a tax levied to support the EMS department wouldn't be enough to cover the entire budget but would help.
The county would be able to bill insurance and Medicare/Medicaid for reimbursement of costs. The county will also qualify for federal Ground Emergency Medical Transport subsidies which help fill in the gaps between actual costs and lower federal reimbursement rates.
The advisory panel would look at all the revenue sources and set the levy at a level sufficient to cover the county's cost of operating the EMS service, up to the 75 cent maximum.
"We hope the taxpayers would see the importance of this thing. But anytime you're asking for money...," Pflug said.
Board member Garry Seyb said if it's not deemed an essential service, the county isn't required to provide the service.
"I think we need to make the public very aware that this is out there and very important that we make this an essential service," he said.
Seyb said everyone he's spoken with has been supportive of making it an essential service. Seyb, who serves on the Jackson Township Fire Department, said the numbers of qualified Emergency Responders within the volunteer departments is shrinking.
"Everyone is qualified in CPR even to get on the truck, but once you go beyond CPR, that's additional training that the person has to take on on their own," he said.
Pflug said the county's going to have do some communicating with the public about the importance.
He said he had to call the ambulance recently for a familiy member.
"If you see how it works, you really see the importance of it," Pflug said.
The resolution will be placed on the supervisors' next two agendas for approval and the board cannot waive any of the readings.
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