Ambulance tax levy increase defeated by fewer than 100 votes
<p class="p1">When voters turned down the Ozark County Ambulance District’s request to raise the property tax levy in the April 4 election, 530 against and 432 for it, ambulance district officials were disappointed, as expected. Board president Ray Peter, who has served on the board for “10 years or so,” said the results made him think residents don’t really care about the service the ambulance district provides – or they just aren’t aware that the district’s professional employees are “the most amazing people. They’re the best part of this whole thing. They save lives,” he told the <em>Times</em> Monday.</p><p class="p1">Peter and district administrator Eddie Delp agreed that one of the reasons for the proposition’s defeat was that the ballot language, although it was written in the required way, was confusing. It asked voters to authorize resetting the current maximum levy of 12.3 cents per $100 of assessed valuation to a maximum of 30 cents per $100, with the rate increase being subject to a corresponding rollback in the current half-cent sales tax that supports the district, as required by Missouri law. The district’s board of directors set each year’s actual levy during their August meeting based on the upcoming year’s budget, which is based on the district’s anticipated needs, he said. Although the ballot request asked for a maximum levy of 30 cents, that maximum would probably be unnecessary most years, Delp told the <em>Times</em> in March. Instead, the net increase of tax was anticipated to be only 16 or 17 cents per $100 valuation, he said. </p><p class="p1">District personnel held town hall meetings around the county, hoping to explain the complicated tax issue in person. But those meetings were poorly attended, except in Pontiac, where 15 residents turned out. At the other meetings in Gainesville, Dora, Theodosia and Thornfield, one or two people – or no one – showed up, said Delp. </p><p class="p1">The measure carried in only four of the county’s 11 precincts (counting absentee votes as a precinct): Big Creek, Bridges, Pontiac and Richland. The issue tied in the Lick Creek precinct.</p><p class="p1">Precinct totals were Barren Fork, yes 40, no 60; Big Creek, yes 46, no 36; Thornfield yes 11, no 27; Bridges, yes 172, no 168; Bayou, yes 32, no 77; Dawt, yes 18, no 27; Jackson, yes 10, no 24; Pontiac, yes 26, no 22; Richland, yes 18, no 12; Lick Creek, yes, 31, no 31; absentee, yes 28, no 46.</p><p class="p1">With the levy increase defeated, the district will continue providing the same service it has in the past, Delp said. “But there’s so much we would like to do but we just don’t have the money to do it,” Peter said. For example, he said, “We’d like to have two ambulances. We miss so many calls because we only have one ambulance. When it’s out and someone calls for help, we have to call for an ambulance to come from Mountain Home or West Plains. That can take an hour and a half. That’s what bothers me more than anything. Someday I’m afraid someone is going to die because of that. Once that happens, then people will notice that the ambulance district needs more money. We all hope that won’t happen, but at the same time I think we all know it will, sooner or later.”</p><p class="p1">The district’s needs are impacted by $250,000 it’s owed in unpaid ambulance bills, caused by persons who have received ambulance service but have not paid their bills. On top of those unpaid bills is the problem of the district’s headquarters building, which was condemned last year due to mold. In April 2016, the district brought in a mobile home where crews can sleep during their shifts. But the city of Gainesville permit for the mobile home was for one year, which means the district will soon have to ask the city for an extension while it works toward tearing down the current condemned structure and rebuilding a new one. </p><p class="p1">The district will also need to replace its current ambulance sometime soon, “And they cost about $50,000 more than they did when we bought our current vehicle five or six years ago,” said Delp.</p><p class="p1">And then there’s the problem of the district’s fluctuating revenue stream. Delp said sales tax revenue for March was down $5,355 compared with March 2016. February’s sales tax revenue was up $2,300 and January’s was down $1,200 compared with last year. </p><p class="p1">The ambulance district’s board was scheduled to meet Tuesday night to discuss its next step.</p>
Ozark County ambulance
