A one-cent (1%) sales tax increase this November.

Provides more flexibility than a property tax does.

• Won’t raise taxes on what you eat at home! Will not be levied on groceries.
• Won’t raise taxes on your prescription medications! Will not be levied on medications prescribed by your doctor.
• Will not raise taxes on where you live or work and will lower property taxes in 2024 and potentially beyond! Raising property taxes would be extremely hard on small businesses and homeowners on fixed incomes.
• Visitors consume 36% of your ambulance services but only pay 30% of their costs and charges! Visitors pay sales taxes while traveling through or staying in our community. 
• If approved, the District will NOT RAISE TAXES IN 2024! The District will lower its mill levy in 2024 to give back all property tax increases from higher property value evaluations.  Future property tax decreases become possible if this measure is approved.
• Fully funds the District resident’s no-balance billing program on medically necessary services provided according to Federal law. District residents will not be held responsible for paying their unpaid charges after insurance has paid their portion. *A few restrictions apply – click here to review. 

The medically complex people who need us the most call us the most, and their insurance pays the least!

• Medicare, Medicaid, and uninsured losses are unrecoverable and unsustainable! This year alone, your ambulance has lost $2.1 Million and $15.1 Million since 2019 from caring for these patients.
• Non-district residents continue to use ambulances without paying for what they use! Your ambulance has lost over $5 million in unpaid costs and visitor charges!
• Call volume is climbing faster than we expected!
  • 17,368 calls since 2019; half of that growth, 8,900 calls, over the past two years alone.
  • Multiple calls occurring at the same time continue to strain available ambulances.
    • 60% simultaneous call rate. Multiple calls occurring at the same time as other calls.

 Lingering impacts of COVID-19 caused a healthcare provider shortage and we risk losing our paramedics!

• • Other EMS agencies around the state are actively recruiting your paramedics away from your ambulances!
  • Other agencies offering better pay and benefits entice your paramedics to leave.
  • Fewer ambulances mean slower response times. Un-staffed ambulances cause us to reduce ambulance coverage!
  • Paramedic wages and benefits costs have climbed yet another 46%. We raised paramedic wages again; we are no longer financially sustainable over the long run.
  • Vehicles, fuel, and maintenance costs have risen 65%.
  • Medication and medical supply shortages have caused these essential items to rise 46%.
  • Our community has behavioral health, crisis response, substance abuse, and suicide issues that need funding to be sustained!
• Over 650 mobile crisis, behavioral health, and Community Paramedic responses this year!
• The District partners with other community entities to provide 24-hour mobile crises, behavioral health, suicide prevention, and community paramedic services.
• Funding is needed to sustain mobile crisis response throughout our area.
• Specially trained Community Paramedics connect patients in a mental health crisis to appropriate resources, including mental health referrals, suicide prevention, and alternative transport to crisis services, and avoid hospital emergency departments that delay services.

Reduced financial worry of calling an ambulance.

• Improved, faster, reliable ambulance services!
• Better paid & better trained providers caring for you!
• Keep paramedics working for you!
• Remove the financial worry of calling an ambulance.
  • District residences will not be charged for ambulance bill amounts not paid by their insurance carriers!
• Enhanced non-ambulance urgent care services provided by Community Paramedics
  • Including telehealth consultations with physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants!
• Stable funding for the mobile crisis response, mental health, and substance abuse teams to serve community needs!
• Should 7A pass, we will adjust/lower property taxes as we can. 

• Community Paramedic programs provide less costly healthcare services to patients who don’t need ambulances or hospitals.
• Community Paramedic programs are reinventing physician house calls by connecting patients to emergency physicians via telehealth who provide diagnoses, write prescriptions, and deliver other care in the patients’ home.
• Community Paramedic services are not paid for by Medicare, Medicaid, nor commercial insurance – yet!
• Community Paramedic services keep ambulances in service for your emergency medical needs while addressing less acute medical problems safely, more effectively, and at a lower cost.

Saving you money and tax dollars!   It costs $174 per hour, per ambulance daily, whereas it only costs a Community Paramedic $70 per hour daily, (less than half of an ambulance).

• Added the additional ambulance for faster response times
• Hired additional paramedics and EMTs to staff the ambulances
• Implemented the district resident discount program – no balance billing
• Kept the substation in Florissant open
• Provided raises to employees

Call Volume

• 8,896 all service calls
  • 12 calls/day!
• 6,589 (74%) Ambulance responses
  • 9 calls/day!
• 2,285 (26%) Mobile Crisis & Community Paramedic responses
  • 3 calls/day!
• 3,465 patients were transported to hospitals.
• Responding to two or more calls at once 53% of the time!
  • 513 calls were significantly delayed because all vehicles were busy when they called!
  • 64 were delayed longer while we requested aid from other agencies.
• $2,679 – the average cost of an ambulance response.
• $ 752 – the average payment from insurance billing payers.
• $1,927 – current tax subsidy needed per ambulance response.

Current – district resident ‘No Balance Billing Program’ discounts:

• $404,233 district resident discounts applied to outstanding balances.
• $890 per average ambulance bill applied to outstanding balances.

The District Discount equals 5.5 years of property taxes!

Value-based on a $600,000 house X residential assessment rate of 7.765%= $40,590 x 3.99 mills = $162 annual property tax payment to your ambulance.

• Continues quality 911 emergency ambulance services staffed by top notch paramedics and EMTs!
• Better-paid and better-trained paramedics to care for you! We will hire additional paramedics to provide additional ambulance coverage when needed and cover sick and vacation needs.
• Funds additional ambulances as needed!
• Enhances non-ambulance urgent care services! We will continue expanding our community paramedic services for alternative urgent care services to those who need care but not but not expensive ambulances or emergency departments.
• Fully funds district resident No Surprise Ambulance Bill Program!

• Should 7A pass, we will adjust/lower property taxes as we can!