Frequently Asked Questions

In Shelby County, when a person in crisis calls 911 in Harlan, a Shelby County EMS Ambulance is the primary responder. If the call is outside of the Harlan response area, the closest EMS volunteer squad is dispatched along with Shelby County EMS if needed due to the severity of the call or if volunteer response was limited.

Since the early 70s, all Shelby County citizens have been served by a combination of volunteers and paid EMS providers. The volunteers staff ambulances and provide basic first-response emergency care. The Shelby County EMS is staffed 24 hours a day – 7 days a week coverage at the Critical Care Paramedic level. This combination has served the county’s citizens well for over 40 years. Shelby County EMS additionally provides inter-facility transports to major medical centers in the area with highly specialized critical care equipment and personnel.

Tax funds are levied to assist in supporting the EMS services in Shelby County. The ambulance service uses these tax funds combined with revenue earned from 911 medical response calls and patient transfers to fund operations and provide adequate staffing.

Estimated Annual Operations

• Estimated Billing Service Revenue: $714,000
• Estimated Expenditures: $1,486,000
  • Breakdown of expenditures:
    • Salaries and Benefits: $1,121,000
    • Supplies, Fuel, Operating Expenses: $275,000
    • Local Volunteer Support (training, supplies, other): $90,000
• Estimated Funding Needed: $940,000
  • Breakdown of funding needed:
    • Net Operations to be funded: $772,000
    • Reserves for Equipment Replacement: $168,000
• Estimated Local Funding Sources: $940,000
  • Breakdown of local funding sources: 
    • Hospital Ambulance Property Tax Levy (funding for transfers): $100,000
    • County Essential Service Property Tax Levy Estimate: $720,000
    • County Essential Service Income Surtax Estimate: $120,000

The transition of becoming an essential service would increase coverage, provide oversight of countywide EMS operations, and allow improved coordination of volunteers and paid providers. The essential service would allow Shelby County to tax for EMS within the county. This will be a major funding stream to maintain the EMS budget.

Yes. A crew of two is immediately available along with a backup crew of two who are on duty and immediately available. At times, there are limited volunteers to respond. When there is a limited or lack of response to a 911 call, SCAS fills in these gaps as well as providing Advanced Life Support (ALS) tiered support.

No, the volunteer rescue providers will continue to be a valuable medical care resource to local communities. Without our EMS volunteers in each community, there would be an increase in time to get a rescue provider at someone’s side to help. The tiered response model provides the most effective delivery of emergency care with volunteers supported by a paid EMS service. The communities of Shelby, Portsmouth, Panama, Earling, Westphalia, Defiance, Irwin, and Elk Horn all provide EMS service within their areas. The new Shelby County EMS Department will tier with these communities and provide Advanced Life Support (ALS) service as needed. The proposed budget allocates financial resources to volunteer departments for the possible purposes of updating equipment or reimbursement for call pay. The distribution of the funds will be a collaborative discussion with volunteer departments as each department has different needs.

Shelby County residents cost share EMS services through a tax levy. The amount is $.75 cents per $1,000 of taxable property within the county. In addition, there will be an income surtax assessment on Iowa individuals’ income tax returns for Shelby County residents at a rate of 1%.

An important element of EMS and the care of emergent patients is the ability of our EMS system to transfer critical patients to a higher level of hospital care, if needed. The current level of care and often immediate availability for transport is unmatched in other counties around the state. The continuation of critical care transport service located in Shelby County is imperative for the ongoing care of our citizens.

Hospital transfers are reimbursed by insurance significantly better than 911 calls and it is important that the new ambulance service capture revenue which will offset some of the expenditures.

We staff two full crews 24/7 consisting of a paramedic and an EMT. While the staff is on shift, they will respond to 911 calls and do transfers to higher level of care from the hospital. When there is not a need for a transfer or 911 calls, the crews could be maintaining equipment, documenting patient care, and doing training around the county.

Harlan is centrally located in the county and can reach all areas of the county in the shortest time. The highest concentration of the county population is located in Harlan resulting in  substantially higher volume of calls in the same area. EMS services are being developed to collaborate with current county EMS and county wide volunteer resources.

Based on 2022 Valuations

• A personal residence valued at $185,023 after rollback of 45.87% equal taxable valuation of  $100,153/1000*.75= $75 property tax levy.
   
• A personal residence valued at $306,158 after rollback of 45.87% equals taxable valuation of  $165,724/1000*.75= $124 property tax levy.
   
• 40 acres of agricultural land with an assessed value of $65,847 has a taxable valuation of $58,631 would pay $43.97 property tax levy.
   
• If you owe $2,000 in state income tax and the local income surtax is 1% you would owe $20 in income surtax.
   
• To find out your personal estimated cost take your property taxable valuation/1000 *.75 and your 2022 state income tax *.01 added together.

• You can learn more about the EMS vote on the Boards and Commissions page under EMS Advisory Council.
• You can also learn more on the Shelby County Emergency Management Facebook page.