As the Colorado General Assembly's 2023 session winds down with two weeks remaining, EMSAC continues to advocate sensible funding of EMS services that depend upon a mill levy. EMSAC President Scott Sholes addressed the leadership of the legislature regarding potential last minutes bills intended to deal with property taxes and their impact on EMS.

April 18, 2023

The Honorable Julie McCluskie, Speaker of the House
The Honorable Steven Fenberg, President of the Senate

Colorado State Capitol

Dear Speaker McCluskie and President Fenberg:

As residential property taxes continue to skyrocket, we can fully expect your constituents to
demand legislative action intended to address this serious problem. During this process we
respectfully urge you to keep in mind that in many parts of our great state the funding of
EMS services is dependent on a mill levy, and that some of our ambulance service special
districts - especially those in rural areas - are already teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.
Changes to the mill levy formula would have immediate impacts on our funding models. The
effects of unexpected costs from the COVID pandemic, early employee retirements, and
recent increased inflation rates have already seriously impacted our budgets, causing many
of our members to be very worried about how legislation considered by the General
Assembly in the final three weeks of the legislative session may affect the future of our
districts.

Over the last few decades, the scope and role of EMS services has dramatically changed as
we are being tasked more and more with duties not typically associated with traditional
“ambulance services.” These services are no longer limited to urgent response to medical
emergencies. Our modern EMS system now includes response to global pandemic,
community paramedics, treat & release without transport, and comprehensive emergency
management duties.

We stand ready to attend any stakeholder meetings you may be scheduling on this topic in
order to engage in meaningful discussions on this vital topic.

Thank you for your consideration.

• CC: General Assembly Joint Budget Committee Members
• The Honorable Rachel Zenzinger
• The Honorable Jeff Bridges
• The Honorable Barbara Kirkmeyer
• The Honorable Shannon Bird
• The Honorable Emily Sirota
• The Honorable Rod Bockenfeld
• The Honorable Paul Lundeen, Senate Minority Leader
• The Honorable Mike Lynch, House Minority Leader

• Ms. Cary Kennedy, Senior Advisor to Governor Polis
• Ms. Allie Kimmel, Legislative Director, Governor Polis