Since the 1980s, voters in Boone County have supported the county's EMS Levy. The funds collected as part of this levy go directly to the county's two EMS agencies, with the Boone County Ambulance Authority receiving 88% and the Whitesville Ambulance Service receiving 12%. This division in funds aligns with the amount of geographical area served by each agency.
These funds are utilized to support the operations of each agency, to help ensure that an ambulance is available in the county every hour of every day. For our agency, these funds account for approximately one third of the amount of revenue that is required to ensure adequate EMS coverage for our citizens.
The most common misconception about the levy is that the service provided by our agency is free of charge. As stated before, the levy accounts for 1/3 of the funds required to provide EMS coverage, the remainder is made up from insurance billing and grant funding.
Background photo credit to the Boone County Community and Economic Development Corp.
