By Rusty Marks
The Charleston Gazette
KANAWHA COUNTY, W.Va. — If it had lights and sirens on it, it was at the Charleston Regional Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday.
County and city officials came together Tuesday at the chamber’s Smith Street offices to push for passage of Kanawha County’s ambulance and bus levy.
The levy, in place since 1973, provides $14.9 million a year to pay for bus service through the Kanawha Valley Regional Transit Authority, ambulance service through the Kanawha County Emergency Ambulance Authority and for other emergency services through local fire departments and the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department.
“This is the only time you’ll ever vote for something in your life that is a matter of life and death,” said Kanawha County Commissioner Dave Hardy, one of several officials who spoke in favor of the levy. “Voting for this will save someone’s life.”
County voters will be asked to vote on the bus and ambulance levy on May 11. The levy requires a 60 percent majority to be renewed.
KRT general manager Denny Dawson said the levy has failed twice, in 1988 and 1994. Though each time the levy got more than 50 percent of the vote, it fell short of the required 60 percent.
County officials held special elections both times to be sure that the levy remained in place.
Dawson said it would be devastating to county services if the levy fails. “Without the levy, bus service is going to be in jeopardy,” he said.
The levy provides 62 percent of KRT’s operating budget, and more than 30 percent of the budget for the ambulance authority. The levy also provides a significant amount of money for fire departments and the Sheriff’s Department.
“We’ve bought ballistic vests and software for our computers,” said Sheriff Mike Rutherford. “We’ve bought TASERs with it. We use it for a lot of safety equipment.”
Charleston Area Alliance President Matt Ballard was careful to point out that the bus levy is not a tax increase, but simply continues the same levy that has been in place since 1973. In fact, county officials agreed to cap the levy rate last year so that revenue collected from the levy remains flat.
Ballard said the levy costs the average county taxpayer about 14 cents a day.
According to Hardy, county emergency responders answered 182,208 police and fire calls in 2009 and transported 65,000 ambulance patients. During the same time period, almost 2.5 million people rode KRT buses.
Those services will have to be cut drastically if the levy fails, Hardy said.
Rutherford said county residents rely on the levy for bus and 911 service. He urged county residents to return the favor.
“Once every four years we ask for a favor,” the sheriff said. “This is our 911 call.”
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