(Harlan) Shelby County residents are voting on a referendum to pass taxation to fund EMS in Shelby County.
Harlan Fire Chief Roger Bissen says since the mid-70s, Medivac and volunteer squads have provided Shelby County with an ambulance service. However, times are about to change. Medivac owners Bob and Nella Sievert are retiring, and their contract is up in June 2026, leaving Shelby County residents with no system in place for transfers from Myrtue Medical Center with a higher level of care.
Bissen says Shelby County currently has an Ambulance Commission made up of Shelby County Supervisors, Myrtue Medical Center, and the City of Harlan to cover the contract for EMS, which relies primarily on fundraisers. He says Iowa law requires taxation for law enforcement and fire protection but nothing for EMS. That has since changed.
The Shelby County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution and formed a seven-person EMS Advisory Council to look at how the county can move forward with EMS in the future. Bissen says the referendum on the November 7 ballot would make EMS in Shelby County an essential service, pass taxation to fund EMS in Shelby County of .75 cents per $100,000 of valuation, and a 1% income surtax. Bissen says this will support part of the budget; billing for services will balance out the funding.
Bissen says the county will utilize all the volunteer ambulance squads in Shelby County that they currently have in Defiance, Irwin, Earling, Portsmouth, Elk Horn, and Shelby. Shelby and Elk Horn communities have already taken the lead and hired City Staff and EMTs.
