Henderson County mulls tax referendum to support emergency services from Burlington

The Henderson County Board will consider a tax referendum that would raise money to support an agreement with the City of Burlington to provide emergency services in the county.

The vote will come at the Tuesday, Aug. 11, county board meeting after county board members met Tuesday, Aug. 4, with the Henderson County Ambulance Board to discuss the future of emergency services within the county.

For at least a decade, the City of Burlington has helped cover some Henderson County emergency calls. Last year, there were 446 emergency calls in the county, and Burlington crews responded to 22 percent of those calls, according to Biggsville Ambulance Director Glenda Ehlen.

“We do use Burlington, we appreciate their services, but we want to service our own people and keep taxes down,” said Ehlen.

So far this year, there have been 302 emergency calls and Burlington has assisted with 23 percent of those calls, she said.

Ehlen says Burlington becoming the main service provider would take away income that supports volunteer services in the county, eventually leading to them being dissolved.

“If we don’t transport a patient, we can’t bill for that service,” said Ehlen. “So we would not have money to keep our ambulance barns open.”

County residents have voiced concerns about longer waiting times for emergency crews if the partnership is approved.

“The time that it takes, the response time, that’s the biggest issue I’m worried about,” said John Cavanaugh, a resident of Oquawka.

Cities within Henderson County have volunteer services for EMS and paramedic crews, which are slowly dwindling because of fewer volunteers.

But instead of a contract with Burlington, volunteers from Biggsville, Stronghurst and other municipalities instead want to bolster their volunteer crews and keep the services within the cities’ responsibilities.

At the last county board meeting, potential volunteers spoke up and said they would help staff volunteer crews.

Across the county, 32 trained volunteers respond to emergencies. Since the tax referendum first was discussed, 25 people have signed up for a first-responder class, and 21 have signed up for an EMT class, Ehlen told Our Quad Cities News.

“We’ve continued to hear there may not be enough support to volunteer for these services, and yet at the meeting people are clearly standing up and saying there is,” said Carrie Cavanaugh, another resident of Oquawka. “We certainly want to have the ability to have responses come as quickly as possible.”

Because of that uptick in volunteer interest, those cities see no need to partner with Burlington for those services.

If the board approves a contract with the City of Burlington, the tax referendum will be on the November ballot.

“They’re worried about their taxes,” said Leslie Carnes, a first responder from Stronghurst, Illinois. “Some people live on a fixed income. I think it’s going to hurt them a lot.”

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