Kasson officials argue for more power in potential ambulance taxing district

After a draft agreement of what a Dodge Center Ambulance Taxing District may look like was released recently, the Kasson City Council had a chance to weigh in during its most recent meeting.
Under the current proposal on the table, Kasson, Claremont, Mantorville, and Dodge Center, the four communities who are part of the Dodge Center Ambulance Primary Service Area would each get one representative and in order for anything to be approved three out of the four communities would need to agree.
In order to move forward with a Taxing District each of the participating cities would need to approve how its set up.
But at least some Kasson officials feel their community should get more say than others due to being a larger community.
“I think that Kasson needs to have a greater share of the voting power,” City Administrator Tim Ibisch wrote in his report.
Why is it Needed?
One of the main reasons for why the Taxing District may be needed, officials say, is due to insurance companies not paying for the true cost of an ambulance.
Two years ago, Dodge Center Ambulance Director AJ Gengler, said the department billed roughly $1.7 million but only received $650,000 in cash.
While there are a variety of reasons, he said the biggest issue is insurance companies, particularly for Medicare and Medicaid patients not paying their fair share.
“You can send a $2,000 bill and you maybe will get $400 or $500 if you’re lucky from that bill,” Gengler said.
With 60 to 70% of rural EMS calls being those patients, Gengler knows there needs to be other ways to generate revenue.
“We need the government to pay the true cost of a bill and ambulance ride,” Gengler said.
Currently the only funding from the communities part of the ambulance service area comes from Kasson in the amount of $5,000 and Dodge Center which provides $7,500.
One silver lining for Dodge Center Ambulance is the amount of volunteer hours they receive from people in the community.
Gengler explained state model projections say it costs between $800,000 and a million dollars a year to staff a full-time 24/7 ambulance.
Dodge Center Ambulance saved taxpayers around a half million dollars last year, based on their current pay for volunteers and staff compared to the cost of having a full-time staff, according to Gengler. He knows if more staff, particularly paid part-time and full-time staff is needed then it would require more revenue.
More Taxes, More Votes?
Ibisch explained during the meeting that Kasson’s tax capacity is larger than the other communities.
“Based on the taxable net capacity Kasson is about just over 60% of the number,” Ibisch said, explaining that he thinks the expectation would be for Kasson to pay about 60% of the cost.
With that said, Ibisch said he thinks Kasson should have more power than the rest.
“I think that my own perspective is that would mean Kasson should have a good percentage of the voting authority there because I think it’s important for our taxpayers to be represented properly,” Ibisch said.
Ibisch said in talking to Dodge Center City Administrator Lee Mattson, he thinks they would be able to come up with an agreement on how to make representation proportional.
“The intention isn’t for Kasson to be in control of it…but to make sure our taxpayers are being properly represented,” he said.
Ibisch explained that the goal of the Taxing District is to have the framework in place to be able to levy certain amounts each year, based on what’s needed, saying like other taxing authorities, it would fluctuate each year.
Mayor Chris McKern said since Kasson has the majority of the people and tax base, he agreed with Ibisch on Kasson getting more authority.
“Not only do we have more property tax base, we’ve got the majority of the population in that group,” he said.
Gengler said that the goal is to make it fair for everyone saying “trying to make four government entities agree on something is not very easy… of all different sizes too.”
“That’s the situation, how do we make that fair and equal,” Genglersaid.
McKern said there are different options that could be explored such as weighted votes.
Capital versus Operations
Ibisch, in his view, said it would make more sense to have a capital base levy for the Taxing District at least at first, saying the biggest issue right now is being able to pay for equipment.
“I also still believe that this should be a CIP district primary with only limited operational components,” Ibisch wrote in his administrator report.