Pleasants County voters approve first dedicated ambulance levy

SAINT MARYS, W.Va. (WTAP) - Pleasants County voters have approved the county’s first-ever dedicated ambulance levy.

The five-year measure needed a 60% supermajority to pass Tuesday. The levy received 65.5% of the vote.

The levy is expected to bring in about $600,000 a year for the Pleasants County Ambulance Authority.

Officials said the cost of staffing, medical supplies and vehicle upkeep has grown faster than the county’s current funding.

Pleasants County Commission President Jay Powell said the county waited as long as it could before asking voters for help. He noted that Pleasants County is one of the few counties in the state that didn’t have an EMS levy.

Powell said county officials are thankful for voters’ support.

“We as the County Commission, along with the Ambulance Authority, have great appreciation of what the citizens did with this past election, with passing the levy. To get that vote, it shows how citizens want to help other citizens,” Powell said.

The money will pay for paramedics and EMTs, emergency vehicles and day-to-day operating costs.

The owner of a home assessed at $113,000 will pay less than $70 a year.

Powell said the timing works because the county’s old school bond levy has been paid off, and this levy costs less than half of what that one did.

He said the commission and the Ambulance Authority will do their best to be great stewards of the levy funds.

Editor’s note: The video for this story will be added once it airs. Please check back for the updated video.