Allen County commissioners Tuesday weighed whether they should ask voters to increase the county sales tax.
The increase would help fund emergency medical services, which are currently funded through the county’s ambulance fund.
A similar ballot measure failed in 2024.
Commission Chair David Lee presented commissioners with a proposal from consultant and lobbyist Mike Taylor, who has worked with other Kansas communities on sales tax campaigns.
Lee said the Kansas Association of Counties recommended Taylor.
“If this is something that we’re wanting to do, we probably should act on it within the next two or three weeks.”
Commissioner Jerry Daniels said residents should have the final say, but he wants public input before moving forward.
“This $6,000 is a lot of money,” Daniels said of the fee for Taylor’s consulting services. “I don’t want to spend it if it’s not going to work.”
Daniels added that EMS services affect every resident in the county.
“We all want an ambulance to come help our friends and family,” he said. “And it needs to be funded somehow.”
Commissioner John Brocker agreed that any future campaign would need clearer communication than the county’s previous effort. “If we do it, we need to make sure we explain it the proper way,” Brocker said. “And not the way it was handled last time.”
THE PREVIOUS attempt to pass a proposed half-cent sales tax failed to garner the support of voters in November 2024.
The proposed tax was expected to generate approximately $1.2 million that would have been designated to the county’s EMS.
According to commissioners at the time, the additional revenue from the sales tax would lower property taxes, though they had not committed by how much.
The current county sales tax is 1.25%. Under that umbrella is a quarter-percent tax that goes to Allen County Regional Hospital; a half-percent goes to the landfill; and a half-percent goes to the general fund.
If it had been approved, the proposed tax would’ve raised the county sales tax to 1.75%. When added to the state’s 6.5% sales tax and the City of Iola’s 1% sales tax, Iolans would have seen their total sales taxes increase from 8.75% to 9.25%.
