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ELECTION
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of the Coshocton County Emergency Medical Service , had to say about the levy .
Why is this levy necessary ?
Our first tax levy that was passed by voters was a 3.0 mill levy in 2003 while we were a part of MedFlight .
In 2008 , when the 3.0 mill needed to be renewed , the commissioners chose to do a 2.0 mill replacement instead of renewing the 3.0 mill and then tried a 1.0 mill jail levy on the same ballot . We passed ; the jail failed .
In 2012 we passed a “ renewal with an increase ” levy . This renewed the 2008 levy for 2 mills and added back the 1 mill .
So our original levy started at 3 mills in 2003 , went to 2 mills in 2008 and returned to 3 mills in 2012 .
This combined levy was last renewed in 2022 .
In 2018 we passed an additional 1.0 mill levy . This was renewed in 2023 .
Our EMS levies do not generate more money as property values increase . As property values increase , the effective rate or rate that is collected decreases .
Using our 2.0 mill levy that was passed in 2008 as an example , because of increasing property values over the years , it was collected at a reduced effective rate of 1.509 mills this year . With property values increasing by 28 %, I am estimating the effective rate of this levy will decline to somewhere between 1.2 and 1.1 mills for 2025 .
I wish we did not have to ask for property tax increases , but it is the only option we have . We know money is tight , and we have tried to reduce the burden on our taxpayers by asking those using our EMS to pay more of the cost to operate our EMS . We stopped writingoff county residents ’ co-pays and deductibles , and we now ask our patients to pay their portion of the cost . We also have implemented a process to invoice a response fee to patients who call us more
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than four times and then refuse transport . But the EMS reimbursement system is broken , and until there are laws to fix it , reimbursements will never keep up with rising personnel costs . What is the money used for ?
Maintaining staffing at four ambulance crews . We are asking for the additional levy because we need the additional funding to maintain staffing . Without additional funding we will be forced to reduce staffing .
It takes 35 full-time employees and several part-time employees to cover the almost 90,000 work hours required to put four ambulance crews and two paramedic supervisors on duty 24 / 7 . When you add in additional hours to cover the fair , football games and PR events on top of covering sick leave , vacations , military leave , injuries at home and work related , and all the other things that affect staffing , we pay well over 100,000 payroll hours each year .
Many of these hours are overtime . We average nearly 20,000 hours of overtime each year . Combine this payroll cost with the cost of providing health insurance for these employees and you can see why our personnel costs are approaching $ 4 million each year .
Coshocton County EMS only has two sources of funding . We have our billing revenue and our tax levies . We do not receive any funding from the county , the city , or any township or village . We are totally selffunded . Our overall billing revenue has not increased in years . We received more billing revenue in 2009 than we did in 2023 . So when we need additional funding , our only available option is to ask for additional levy money . I wish there were other options , but there are no other options for us to maintain our EMS .
This levy has nothing to do with the new station in Coshocton . It is to keep our people . If we had never built
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the new station and we were still operating from the old building on Chestnut , we would still be on the ballot in November asking for these additional funds .
Why is it important voters pass this levy ?
In a medical emergency or traumatic accident , time is critical . We are covering the entire county , 564 square miles , and there is no way to predict when the next emergency will happen or where it will be located
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. The greatest cost of any EMS system is paying for crews to be ready and available to immediately respond when they are needed .
The commissioners have said the decision is in the hands of the voters . If the levy fails again , we will respect the will of the voters and operate on the funding we have . This will mean reducing the number of crews on duty from four to three . There are many times when all four of our crews
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are responding on emergency calls . So we know , with only three crews , there will be many times when there will be that fourth call , and we have no ambulance available to respond .
If voters want to keep their four EMS crews on duty in our three stations , they must pass this levy .
Google says the average home value in Coshocton County is $ 160,000 . Our levy would be less than 16 cents per day for a
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$ 160,000 property or less than 8 cents per day for an $ 80,000 property .
I understand no one wants to pay more taxes . I get tired of paying taxes . But I have lost track of how many times over my 40 years in EMS that someone has said to me that they would give anything to have their deceased loved one back . For me , I will gladly skip one meal at a restaurant next year to cover what this levy will cost me .
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