South Barry County Ambulance District reduces property tax levy
Chair says is an act of "good faith" to voters
August 31, 2016
Charlea Estes
The South Barry County Ambulance District (SBCAD) Board announced last week that they’ve voluntarily reduced the property tax levy on residents by more than 50 percent. According to board chairman Ken Cieslinski, the decision was an act of “good faith” to voters, who passed the ambulance district sales tax in April 2015.
The property lax levy that funded the SBCAD was 0.081 before the board voted to reduce it to 0.0331. Cieslinski said, “We’ve rolled back as much as we could. Legally, we haven’t brought in enough sales tax to abolish it, but we reduced it better than 50 percent.” He said the board hopes to eliminate the property tax levy altogether in 2017.
After voters approved the 1/2-cent sales tax in the April 2015 election, the SBCAD planned to roll-back the property tax levy entirely. The district also put the district up for ambulance provider bids, as well, resulting in Mercy taking over the contract in March 2016, saving $94,500 annually over what CoxHealth was being paid before.
Thanks to the additional funds, the district has replaced two of the ambulances, both of which had over 300,000 miles on them, as well as obtaining new life-saving equipment, such as cardio monitors and defibrillators. Cieslinski said if the finances hadn’t changed, the district would have not been able to make the upgrades that needed to happen to keep the service running. He said, “It would have been insolvent by 2018.”
However, now the financial picture has improved to allow the district to replace ambulances, equipment and also remodel the Shell Knob ambulance station. The District was able to obtain the building, which was owned by Central Crossing Fire Protection District, at no cost. Cieslisnki said, “We can’t sell it or anything, but we acquired it and it cost us nothing.”
The remodel included fixing bathrooms and garage doors and making it usable by staff.
Cieslinski said, “We’re able to afford badly needed equipment, and we’re grateful for that.”
Prior to the sales tax initiative passing, the SBCAD operated on roughly $220,000 annually to replace equipment, ambulances and do building maintenance. So far in 2016, the district has received $653,318.39 as of July 30. Of that, $466,591.76 is from the sales taxes, and $186,726.83 is from property tax levies. It was initially estimated that the district would receive approximately $560,000 to $615,000 annually from the sales tax, but initial numbers show that the actual figure will be higher if sales tax trends continue.
Given additional time, South Barry County residents should see a reduction in their property taxes. Cieslinski said, “It should be rolled back nest year, assuming sales tax stays the way it is now.”
09/01/2016, 2:10 p.m. Note: The amount of the reduced property tax levy was corrected to read "0.0331" instead of "0.331".
Charlea Estes
The South Barry County Ambulance District (SBCAD) Board announced last week that they’ve voluntarily reduced the property tax levy on residents by more than 50 percent. According to board chairman Ken Cieslinski, the decision was an act of “good faith” to voters, who passed the ambulance district sales tax in April 2015.
The property lax levy that funded the SBCAD was 0.081 before the board voted to reduce it to 0.0331. Cieslinski said, “We’ve rolled back as much as we could. Legally, we haven’t brought in enough sales tax to abolish it, but we reduced it better than 50 percent.” He said the board hopes to eliminate the property tax levy altogether in 2017.
After voters approved the 1/2-cent sales tax in the April 2015 election, the SBCAD planned to roll-back the property tax levy entirely. The district also put the district up for ambulance provider bids, as well, resulting in Mercy taking over the contract in March 2016, saving $94,500 annually over what CoxHealth was being paid before.
Thanks to the additional funds, the district has replaced two of the ambulances, both of which had over 300,000 miles on them, as well as obtaining new life-saving equipment, such as cardio monitors and defibrillators. Cieslinski said if the finances hadn’t changed, the district would have not been able to make the upgrades that needed to happen to keep the service running. He said, “It would have been insolvent by 2018.”
However, now the financial picture has improved to allow the district to replace ambulances, equipment and also remodel the Shell Knob ambulance station. The District was able to obtain the building, which was owned by Central Crossing Fire Protection District, at no cost. Cieslisnki said, “We can’t sell it or anything, but we acquired it and it cost us nothing.”
The remodel included fixing bathrooms and garage doors and making it usable by staff.
Cieslinski said, “We’re able to afford badly needed equipment, and we’re grateful for that.”
Prior to the sales tax initiative passing, the SBCAD operated on roughly $220,000 annually to replace equipment, ambulances and do building maintenance. So far in 2016, the district has received $653,318.39 as of July 30. Of that, $466,591.76 is from the sales taxes, and $186,726.83 is from property tax levies. It was initially estimated that the district would receive approximately $560,000 to $615,000 annually from the sales tax, but initial numbers show that the actual figure will be higher if sales tax trends continue.
Given additional time, South Barry County residents should see a reduction in their property taxes. Cieslinski said, “It should be rolled back nest year, assuming sales tax stays the way it is now.”
09/01/2016, 2:10 p.m. Note: The amount of the reduced property tax levy was corrected to read "0.0331" instead of "0.331".
