City Of Crestwood: Proposition 1 - Fire Protection Sales Tax Increase

Press release from the City of Crestwood:

February 15, 2022

On Tuesday, April 5, 2022, Crestwood residents will vote on Proposition 1, a proposal to increase the current fire protection sales tax from one-quarter to one-half of a cent. Proceeds from the sales tax increase will be used to establish a city-run ambulance service.

Currently, Crestwood contracts with Abbott EMS for ambulance service. The Board of Aldermen decided it was time for the City to provide this service, as for the past year the City has seen ambulance response times from Abbott that are unacceptable. From January-August 2021, Abbott’s response time was longer than 5 minutes on 89% of calls, and the average response time was more than 10 minutes.

If ambulance service was provided in-house, Crestwood would aim to match the City’s current fire emergency response time of 4 minutes or less. For example, when the City of Olivette switched to providing ambulance service in-house, it saw its EMS response time drop from over 9 minutes to 3 minutes and 35 seconds.

In St. Louis County, there are just three fire departments/districts including Crestwood that use a for-profit ambulance provider. If Crestwood voters approve Proposition 1, Crestwood would join the 30 other municipal fire departments/districts and provide our own ambulance service.

Beyond faster EMS response times, providing an in-house ambulance service would enable Crestwood to receive mutual aid ambulance services from our surrounding jurisdictions including Webster Groves Fire Department, Kirkwood Fire Department, Mehlville Fire Protection District, Fenton Fire Protection District, and Affton Fire Protection District.

Currently, because the City does not provide its own ambulance service, Crestwood receives mutual aid from surrounding fire departments and districts on fire 911 calls, but not EMS 911 calls.

The City’s fire protection sales tax was first approved by voters in 2003. By law, all of the proceeds of this sales tax must be used for fire and emergency medical service operations.

The City anticipates hiring five additional firefighter/paramedics, and purchasing an ambulance, if voters approve Proposition 1.

This press release was produced by the City of Crestwood. The views expressed here are the author’s own.