For the second time in two years, a tax levy to generate a dedicated funding source for emergency medical services (EMS) in Floyd County has failed to pass.
The tax levy could have raised up to $670,000 a year for five years in support of EMS, including the four entities that supply ambulance service in the county: Nora Springs and Greene ambulances, Marble Rock First Responders and AMR Ambulance.
The measure required a 60% supermajority to pass, but fell well short, with only 45% YES votes to 55% NO votes. An EMS tax levy put before Floyd County voters in November 2022 also failed to reach the 60% supermajority threshold.
For Charles City and Floyd County, officials will have to make tough decisions on how to continue subsidizing the operating costs of AMR Ambulance. The City and County are currently splitting a payment of about $427,000 to AMR this fiscal year, with the price tag to go up by 3% to almost $450,000 next July 1st.
Floyd County Medical Center (FCMC) has agreed to contribute over $100,000 each year of the current contract to help with that subsidy payment, but FCMC has not committed to that arrangement past the 2025-26 fiscal year.
