–The Algona City Council and Kossuth County Board of Supervisors have both recently agreed to the formal terms that will transition all of the resources of Algona EMS to the county’s control. Back in 2021, the State Legislature approved, and Governor Reynolds signed a bill that would allow counties to tax for Emergency Medical Services if the residents of that county passed a referendum vote in favor of the idea. Voters in Kossuth County did just that last November, and Algona City Administrator Jacob Tjaden tells KLGA News that this transition has been in the works ever since.
Tjaden says all of the city’s resources will now become the counties.
Tjaden says the transition will officially take place on July 2nd, to coincide with the beginning of the new fiscal year, when the county can begin collecting the tax.
The referendum will need to be approved by voters again in five years, and Tjaden says if the vote goes the other way this time, the transition agreement also has a procedure for the city to get their equipment and personnel back.
