The Reporter newspaper, Camdenton Missouri

The Reporter covers Miller, Morgan and Camden County in Central Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks and is published once per week on Wednesdays.

Published September 4, 2019

Camden County Ambulance district lowers tax levy

CAMDEN COUNTY – The Camden County Ambulance District is lowering its tax levy due to higher county evaluation.

The levy will drop from its current rate of 2.796 to the new rate of 2.791.

The lowering of the levy is related to the Hancock Amendment.

On November 4, 1980, Missouri voters approved a constitutional amendment, Article X, sections 16-24 that is known as the Hancock Amendment. The amendment is a type of provision known as a “tax and expenditure limitation.”

Mel Hancock, authored a citizens’ initiative limiting state revenues and local taxes and was the originator, catalyst, and primary organizer of the constitutional amendment that is named after him.

A section of the Hancock Amendment deals with local tax entities, including the ambulance district.

According to the Missouri Legislative Academy Institute of Public Policy, University of Missouri, it’s explained this way:

“If the assessed valuation of property, excluding new construction and improvements, increases by a larger percentage than the Consumer Price Index, then a ‘rollback’ of the tax rate is required to yield the same amount as would have been received from the levy on the prior assessed value.”

The lowering of the ambulance district levy will result in approximately $3,000 less the district will receive next year, an ambulance district spokesman said.

A public hearing and a vote of the levy was held at last week’s meeting of the ambulance district board.

In other business at last weeks’ meeting:

• Mercy EMS (they supply the personnel and dispatching for the district) reported that calls for July were higher than June but lower than July of 2018.

A total of 331 calls were received for July compared to only 288 for June. In July of 2018 the district responded to 340 calls.

The breakdown of the calls were:

• 166 patients were taken to Lake Regional Hospital
• 70 patients refused care
• 26 calls were canceled enroute
• 15 were taken to Mercy Hospital in Springfield
• 15 were taken to Mercy Hospital in Lebanon
• 6 were taken to UMMC
• 5 calls were for fire standby
• 4 calls were DOA
• 4 were taken to Center for Cognitive Disorders
• 3 went to Citizen’s Memorial Hospital
• 2 were billed standbys
• 2 went to Bothwell
• 2 were taken to Staff for Life (MU-1)
• 1 no care needed
• 1 was Substantial Aid (no helicopter)
• 1 went to Cox South
• 1 went to Cox North
• 1 to UMMC Women & Children’s Hospital
• 1 to Golden Valley
• 1 to Columbia VA
• 1 to Capitol Region Hospital
• 1 to a nursing home
• 1 residence
• 1 Lifeline

These calls resulted in a total mileage of 14,428 for the month of July. The busiest day of the week for the month was on Fridays with a monthly total for that day of 57 calls.

The Camden County Ambulance District operates out of five stations (Camdenton, Y-Road in Linn Creek, Climax Springs, Macks Creek and Montreal) and owns seven ambulances.