Ottawa County voters approve tax increase for EMS funding - KOAM TV 7

Ottawa County voters approve tax increase for EMS funding

Updated January 9, 2013 at 1:45 PM CST:  Residents in Ottawa County vote for a property tax increase to fund private emergency management services.

Property owners in the Miami Public School District have been paying the three mill tax levy for 33 years, but due to rising costs and increased demand for EMS services outside of the Miami area, Integris EMS and Quapaw Tribe EMS asked to expand the tax county-wide.

[notes:Ottawa county ems proposal (heading)  in district  (subhead)     yes:  973   no: 127]

Within the district the EMS proposal passed by a vote of 973 to 127.

Outside the district the vote was 739 in favor and 347 against.

Posted January 8, 2013 at 4:36 PM CST:  Miami, Oklahoma residents are voting tonight on a property tax increase to fund private emergency management services.

Property owners in the Miami public school district have been paying the three mill tax levy for 33 years.

But due to rising costs and increased demand for EMS services outside of the Miami area Integris EMS and the Quapaw Tribe EMS are looking to expand the tax county wide.

If both residents in the school district and outside of it pass the proposal residents outside the district will see a small increase on their property taxes.  For example, a home worth $100,000 will see an increase of about $38 a year.

"My mom lives 20 miles outside of town - if something was to happen and they couldn't get to her in time or something like that I would blame myself for not having this opportunity to provide protection for everybody," says Miami resident David Heatherly.