County Supervisors Take First Step Toward EMS Tax Levy Special Election In March

The Mills County Board of Supervisors went back to the drawing board Tuesday morning and set a public hearing for Nov. 10 to once again declare Emergency Medical Services (EMS) an “essential service.”

The public hearing is the first formal step in a required process for setting a county-wide special election in March 2027 on a proposed property tax levy of $1.50 per $1,000 taxable valuation to fund EMS services. The board’s action on Tuesday came one week after supervisors unanimously rejected a resolution to put a 75 cents per $1,000 taxable valuation tax levy public measure on the general election ballot in November.

The supervisors previously passed a resolution declaring EMS an essential service in May 2025, but language of that resolution restricts the board from setting the EMS tax levy higher than 75 cents, the maximum amount allowed at that time under state code. Last month, however, a change in the state code approved by the Iowa Legislature went into effect that allows an EMS tax levy be set as high as $1.50. The supervisors and members of the Mills County EMS Advisory Council, appointed by the supervisors, have stated publicly that although a 75-cent levy would allow local EMS service agencies to operate at existing levels and might delay future consolidation of some departments, it would not generate enough revenue to enhance the quality of service being provided to Mills County residents.

“The 75 cents only allows us to have the current structure,” said county supervisor Jack Sayers. “We don’t have enough funding to put in a paid staffing system like we would if we did $1.50.”

The supervisors will be required to pass three readings of any new resolution declaring EMS an essential service. Joe George, chair of the EMS Advisory Council, said if a new resolution is passed, it will override the resolution passed by the supervisors in 2025.

George noted that after passing the “essential service” resolution, the board will then be required to pass a second resolution to place the public measure on the special election ballot in March.Katie Dodge, election deputy in the Mills County Auditor’s office, has told the board a special election in March would probably cost the county between $6,000-$10,000.Sayers and fellow county supervisors Richard Crouch and Lonnie Mayberry are in agreement that the importance of EMS service in Mills County justifies the cost of putting the matter to a vote of the people in a special election.

Mayberry said EMS is “huge” issue for the county.

“It’s something I want to push forward,” Mayberry said during discussion at the board’s Aug. 18 meeting. “I don’t people to die because we dragged our feet.”