Allen County voters will have another opportunity to decide how the county funds emergency medical services after commissioners unanimously approved putting a proposed half-cent sales tax on the November ballot.
The decision came after weeks of discussion about the rising cost of providing ambulance services and how an increased sales tax could affect property taxes.
Commission Chairman David Lee said he was comfortable allowing voters to make the decision.
“Without a doubt I’m very comfortable with the idea of putting it in front of the citizens of Allen County and letting them decide if this is something that they want,” Lee said. “The worst that can happen is they say no, but they could say yes. But we give them that opportunity.”
The timing was an important consideration. County Clerk Shannon Patterson told commissioners military ballots must be mailed by Sept. 19, while advance and early voting begins Oct. 14. Ballots must be printed and programmed before then.
“I need to know probably this week for programming purposes,” Patterson said.
Commissioner Jerry Daniels urged the commission to make a decision. “I would strongly encourage us to finalize that today,” he said.
THE PROPOSED 0.5% sales tax would provide another source of revenue for EMS, which commissioners say has become increasingly expensive to maintain.
Allen County voters rejected a similar proposal in 2024, with 52% voting against it. Commissioner John Brocker noted the ballot language used in that election was difficult to understand.
This time, the county has hired Kansas City-based consultant Mike Taylor of StrategyConsultants to help educate voters about the proposal. Commissioners are using Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) funds from the Prairie Queen Wind Farm and donations to pay Taylor.
Commissioners said the public education campaign will need to clearly explain how the increased sales tax could affect property taxes.
Daniels estimated the additional county sales tax, which would go from 1.25% to 1.75% could generate approximately $1.2 million annually.
When added to the state’s 6.5% sales tax and the city of Iola’s 1% sales tax, Iolans would see their total sales taxes increase from 8.75% to 9.25%.
Daniels said that additional revenue from the increased sales tax could lower property taxes by 5.7 mills.
Daniels said that would be important when explaining the proposal to residents.
“The constituent right now that’s listening to this conversation takes that as we’re never going to lower property taxes,” he said.
