Renewed Call for Creation of EMS Service Area in Scott County Set for Monday

By Benjamin Cox on May 1, 2021 at 8:29am

A revival for a special EMS service area in Scott County is scheduled to happen this Monday. The Scott County Commissioners are expected to hear about a proposed EMS Special Service Area for the county on Monday at 3PM for their meeting.

According to the Scott County Times, the EMS Board, which is a stand-alone, independent, volunteer entity is set to renew its call for the county to create the service area to aid the community. The EMS Board contends that the special service area, which would serve as a taxing body, needs to occur for the ambulance service to continue. The Scott County EMS Board had previously tried and failed to have the region created two years ago.

EMS Board member Virginia Moss told the Scott County Times that demand for the service is growing while volunteers are dwindling. Currently the EMS service is funded through bills it charges residents, insurance companies, and Medicaid and Medicare for their ambulance calls. Moss says that the EMS service has already made 175 service calls on the year.

The proposed service area would allow tax money to be collected to pay for a full time EMT staff and to update and maintain equipment.

Scott County Commissioner Dan Hatcher told the Scott County Times that he’s not opposed to the service but it should be up for a referendum for voters to decide whether the service area and ultimately the raise in taxes should occur. Hatcher says that the county hasn’t raised property taxes since 1973, and that the county would have to raise taxes within 3 years to pay for the service.