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Ark. voters pass EMS fee increase

As the service expands, county voters approve the first EMS user fee bump since 1986

By John Lovett
Times Record

SEBASTIAN COUNTY, Ark. — Sebastian County voters agreed Tuesday it was time to update a 30-year-old Emergency Management System fee, and Fort Smith’s Ward 4 voters were split in a municipal primary election.

More than 50 percent of voters in the county felt it was time to approve an EMS user fee increase: 558 in favor and 491 against.

With more than 2,100 ballots cast Tuesday night in Ward 4 by 8:45 p.m., it appeared incumbent Fort Smith Ward 4 City Director George Catsavis and Neal Martin will face each other in a November general election runoff. Catsavis, the Ward 4 representative since 2010, had received about 47 percent of the ballots cast, with Martin receiving more than 38 percent. Robyn Dawson had about 14 percent of the ballots and Zachary Muncrief had 0.45 percent.

The EMS user fee, which affects Sebastian County residents outside of Fort Smith and Barling, will go from $18 per year to $43 per year in 2017 and $68 per year in 2018. This amount will be collected on personal property tax statements. The fee has been seen as insufficient by county leaders. Since 1986 the service has increased from six full-time EMTs with two ambulances to 14 full-time paramedics and four Advanced Life Support Ambulances. The upgrades improved the EMS from the lowest to the highest level of service. The budget for EMS has increased from more than $188,000 in 1986 to slightly more than $1.7 million in 2016.

According to figures provided by the Frontier Metropolitan Planning Organization using U.S. Census data, there were 127,780 people in Sebastian County in 2015 and the population is projected to increase to 132,058 by the year 2020.

Copyright 2016 Times Record

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