• The Osceola County Commissioners approved putting the COA and EMS millage renewals on the ballot for the August primary at its meeting Feb. 19. The millages expired at the end of the 2019 taxing period and will need to be renewed to continue funding the two entities. (File photo/Herald Review)

    The Osceola County Commissioners approved putting the COA and EMS millage renewals on the ballot for the August primary at its meeting Feb. 19. The millages expired at the end of the 2019 taxing period and will need to be renewed to continue funding the two entities. (File photo/Herald Review)

    less

    The Osceola County Commissioners approved putting the COA and EMS millage renewals on the ballot for the August primary at its meeting Feb. 19. The millages expired at the end of the 2019 taxing period and will

    ... more
Image 1 of / 1

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 1

The Osceola County Commissioners approved putting the COA and EMS millage renewals on the ballot for the August primary at its meeting Feb. 19. The millages expired at the end of the 2019 taxing period and will need to be renewed to continue funding the two entities. (File photo/Herald Review)

less

The Osceola County Commissioners approved putting the COA and EMS millage renewals on the ballot for the August primary at its meeting Feb. 19. The millages expired at the end of the 2019 taxing period and will

... more

REED CITY -- The Osceola County Board of Commissioners approved placing millage renewal levies for the Commission on Aging and the Emergency Medical Services on the August ballot at its meeting Feb. 19.

According to Osceola County Clerk Karen Bluhm, both the EMS and the COA millages expired at the end of 2019. This means that they were levied for collection at the end of 2019 tax bills, and the revenue generated will be used for 2020 operations, she said.

"You will get the revenue now, but at the end of this year, without a renewal, the county will not collect the revenue for the next year's budget," she told the board.

The current EMS millage is variable up to 1.33 mills, but was only 1 mill for tax year 2019, Bluhm said. The current COA millage is a combined 1 mill.

According to Osceola County treasurer Lori Leudeman, the EMS and COA millages each generate around $655,000 annually, which is used to fund the services they provide.

The COA provides services to seniors throughout Osceola County, including home delivery of hot meals, congregate meals site lunches, transportation services, home health and homemaking services and transportation services.

EMS provides emergency medical services throughout the county.

"We have great programs for seniors, and they really enjoy what we do for them," COA director Justin Halladay said.

"It's important that the voters know this is the same amount that we have been receiving, and not an increase in their taxes."

If passed, the proposal would renew the millages for six years, and would not increase the amount of taxes residents currently pay.