Who pays?

If youve followed the debate over the future of ensuring local ambulance services, youve likely heard the term ambulance districting.
The City of Flandreau is weighing the option of forming the special tax district as it considers taking over ambulance services from Moody County.
The approach, increasingly used by communities across the state, aims to secure reliable funding for emergency medical care by distributing costs equally among property owners in a defined area. But ambulance districts must be approved by voters and overseen by a board of county residents.
County officials have long doubted such a measure would pass, as rural residents already shouldering much of the cost would continue to bear the burden. As a result, the issue was never fully explored.
That changed last week after former Flandreau City Administrator Jeff Pederson penned a letter to the editor.
The people of this county need and deserve a method of delivering EMS services that both ensures quality and reliability and that is financially sustainable for the future, Pederson wrote.
This service is too important to the people of this County to continue in its present form, or to be force-fitted into a unit of government that is not in place to provide services miles outside of its corporate limitsMoody County has the authority under state statute to place the issue of forming an Ambulance District before the voters. Leadership is needed.
In turn, Commission Assistant Marty Skroch and Tawny Heinemann presented figures at the commissions most recent meeting on what a new tax district for the service could mean. Rural county residents would still fund about 84% of the emergency services costs, while incorporated areas including Flandreau, the most frequent user, would cover about 16%.
We are 36 years into this being a county-only run entity, and a taxing district would put the burden largely on the same group thats already paying, along with the tribal assistance weve been receiving, Skroch told the commission.
Flandreau City Administrator Cohl Turnquist, also at the meeting, provided an estimate: a $0.20 per $1,000 property valuation would generate the necessary funds.
I certainly do recognize the issue of fairness with this. I was under the assumption for a while that it only applied to structures. I now know that it applies to all ag land, Turnquist said.
I was talking to the administrator in Lennox, and its something hes been lobbying the legislature to change just for that aspect.
Lennox is among the growing number of South Dakota communities also looking to restructure ambulance financing.
At a $0.20 valuation, Turnquist said, municipal areas would contribute $40,604 annually. City homeowners might see a tax increase of $120$173, depending on property values. Larger landowners across the county would be responsible for an approximate $218,615.
Commissioner Randy Hemmer raised concerns about fairness.
The biggest property taxpayer in the county is the guy who owns the two dairy barns. So, youd be taxing the guy with 11,000 cows more than anyone else, he said.
And Dell Rapids or Jasper would likely service River Bend anyway.