Allen County commissioners don’t want to renegotiate a contract with the City of Iola for ambulance services.
“We negotiated our contract in good faith,” Commissioner Bruce Symes said at the end of a meeting on Tuesday.
“We’ve got our financial terms. Our budget is what it is. Our fiscal condition is what it is. Our wish is to continue under the terms of the current agreement.”
Their response comes after Iola Council members voted to split the city’s fire and EMS services. The city has struggled to find qualified workers willing to provide both firefighting and emergency medical care services.
But the move will come with an extra cost of about $600,000 annually. The Iola-only fire service is expected to cost the city about $1.9 million in 2023; EMS-alone would cost $2.2 million.
The city and county negotiated a five-year contract at the end of last year, after the county explored other options and nearly decided to go with a different provider. In the end, the county agreed to stay with the city and pay $1.65 million for EMS services this year, increasing that payment 2.5% each year through the life of the contract.
But with a $300,000 difference between projected cost and revenues for EMS, Iola Administrator Matt Rehder said the city should attempt to renegotiate its contract with Allen County to cover those expenses.
Commissioners met with Counselor Bob Johnson in executive session for about 20 minutes on Tuesday to talk about the city’s actions, even though no one from the city has formally approached the commission on the matter.
After the executive session, commissioners said they would explore all options but, Symes said, “we want to continue the good ambulance service we have. It may continue as is. It may take some different form.
“We have a fiscal responsibility to our taxpayers. We also have a very sobering responsibility to provide for the health and safety of our county residents.”
His fellow commissioners, Chairman Jerry Daniels and David Lee, agreed they were willing to talk to the city but did not wish to change the terms of the contract.
COUNTY AND CITY leaders also were at odds on another joint program.
Commissioners appear reluctant to sign on to a city proposal to expand the Neighborhood Revitalization Program.
The program will issue a rebate for property taxes when a property owner makes improvements, such as by building a home or remodeling. The rebate forgives the amount of increased property taxes caused by the improvement.
Currently, the program gradually reduces the rebate, starting at 100% for six years, then to 80, 60 and 40. The city wants to change to 100% for the full 10 years.
Four entities are involved in the program: the City of Iola, the county, USD 257 and Allen Community College. Other cities, such as Humboldt and LaHarpe, have similar but separate programs.
Commissioner Bruce Symes opposed the change, saying he thought the current program was working well.
He researched the program with the help of county treasurer Darolyn Maley and found the county issued rebate checks for 161 properties last year for a total of $665,113. Checks were written to 154 property owners: 93 in Iola, 42 in Humboldt, nine in Gas (which has ended its program) and 10 in LaHarpe.
This year, the county has about 184 properties that qualify.
In 2013, when Maley took over as treasurer, the county had just 59 properties in the program.
Gregg Hutton, building and codes director for the City of Iola, attended Tuesday’s meeting to ask if the county would agree to the change.
The goal is to encourage housing development by offering the tax rebate as an incentive. After 10 years, the properties would go back on the tax rolls with the full amount of taxes due.
In the past six years, only six residential houses have been built within the city limits.
Symes said he understood the city’s goal, but he would like to see the various entities work on a different type of incentive program. The Neighborhood Revitalization Program helps property owners make improvements, but it hasn’t resulted in a significant increase to housing.
“Maybe we need to think about a building incentive program that solely addresses developers and doesn’t bring in the Neighborhood Revitalization Program, because that program is being well-used and I think it’s working well the way it is,” Symes said.
Commissioners had other questions, such as whether other counties offer the full 100% rebate for all 10 years.
Maley didn’t know the answer to that, but she did know how many properties qualified for rebates in other Southeast Kansas counties. The caveat is that each county and city sets its own rules, so they may have different guidelines.
Miami County had 32 properties in 2021; Anderson had 10; Crawford, 85; Montgomery, 85; Bourbon, 65; and Neosho, 145.
Commissioners said they wanted to research the matter further before deciding what to do about the city’s request.
Another question is if the city can set its rebate independent of other entities. That would mean the city could issue a rebate of 100% each year, while the county’s portion might be graduated.
IN OTHER news, commissioners:
• Heard a weather update from Emergency Management Director Jason Trego. He said severe storms were expected west of Wichita this week, but by the time the system made its way east, Allen County could expect about 2 inches of rain between Thursday and Saturday, with low risk for severe weather.
Learned 911 Director Chelsie Angleton and Trego had been selected to teach classes at an international conference for emergency dispatchers in April. Trego taught a class at the conference last year and it was so well received, he was asked to return.
• Got an update on how the county utilizes its fleet of tractors, as Road and Bridge Director Mark Griffith is debating whether to lease tractors.
• Heard an update on Saturday’s auction of surplus county equipment. Preliminary estimates show the county sold everything except a few chairs and the auction brought about $62,000, but that doesn’t include auctioneer’s fees.
• Were invited to attend a “Veterans Day Mess Call” dinner at 6 p.m. Nov. 11 at the Iola North Community Building, 505 N. Buckeye St., organized by the Iola Veterans Day Committee. The event is free to the first 50 veterans and one guest; RSVP by calling 620-228-7349.
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