Ambulance levy: If everything is a crisis, nothing is planned

This op-ed was originally published on 5BGazette.com on April 24, 2026.

Blaine County residents are being told that if the ambulance levy on the May 19 ballot fails, essential services could suffer. It’s a familiar message and part of a larger pattern of governing by crisis in our county.

Responsibility for that pattern rests with the same three elected officials: Commissioners Muffy Davis, Angenie McCleary, and Lindsay Mollineaux. In addition to serving as county commissioners, they also serve as the governing board for the ambulance district.

County leaders have known for years that ambulance services would face funding pressures. Population growth, increased call volume, and rising costs didn’t appear overnight. These trends were predictable and manageable with proper planning. Instead, we are now being asked to approve a tax increase under urgent circumstances, as though there were no other options.

This pattern should feel familiar.

We’re seeing similar warning signs in how the county has handled the coroner’s office. For decades, the county has relied on a long-serving coroner who also provides access to a private mortuary facility in the absence of a county morgue, an arrangement that everyone knew would eventually change upon retirement.

That transition has been foreseeable for years.

Yet instead of presenting a clear, public plan for how the county will handle those responsibilities in the future, the larger structural question—what replaces that facility and how it will be funded—remains unanswered. The current coroner’s term ends in December of this year. If the morgue issue suddenly becomes the next “crisis,” it won’t be because it was unpredictable. It was because it wasn’t planned for, even though there was ample time to do so.

Now we’re seeing the same approach with ambulance services.

To be clear, this is not an argument against funding emergency medical services. Ambulance coverage is essential. The question isn’t whether it should be funded; it’s how, and whether leadership has done the work to ensure that new taxes are truly necessary.

At a recent presentation, even the county’s emergency medical services coordinator acknowledged there are other ways to support the system through grants, partnerships, and other funding tools. But that broader context is largely missing from how this levy is being presented to the public.

Instead, much of the messaging has focused on what could be lost if the levy fails: reduced staffing, longer response times, and cuts to service. Those are serious concerns, and they should be part of the conversation. But they shouldn’t be the only part.

Residents deserve a full picture. That includes an honest discussion of current performance as well as what steps could be taken to improve efficiency, pursue partnerships, or identify alternative funding sources.

Unfortunately for Blaine County, this messaging approach isn’t unique to the current ambulance levy.

During last year’s Blaine County Recreation District levy campaign, voters were presented with a similar set of warnings: potential cuts to trail grooming, reductions in youth and adult programs, higher user fees, and delayed projects if the measure failed.

Again, those projected impacts may have been real. But the public case centered almost entirely on what would be lost without the same level of visibility into how existing resources were being managed, what alternatives had been considered, or what tradeoffs had been made.

This is now an established pattern in Blaine County.

A levy shouldn’t be the starting point. It should be the last resort.

That means asking basic questions: Have existing resources been fully prioritized? Have long-term needs been planned for in advance? Have leaders made difficult tradeoffs within current budgets? These aren’t abstract policy questions. They’re the core responsibilities of local government.

For too long, Blaine County officials have operated in an environment where tax increases regularly pass. Over time, that can create a system where going back to taxpayers becomes the easiest and most predictable option, rather than the final step after every other avenue has been exhausted.

But “easiest” shouldn’t be the standard.

Good leadership means planning ahead. It means prioritizing. It means making tough decisions before asking residents—many of whom are already feeling the strain of rising costs—to pay more.

Before voters are asked to approve another levy, they deserve confidence that every reasonable option has been considered and that existing dollars are being used as effectively as possible.

Taxpayers shouldn’t be the backup plan for decisions that should have been made years ago.

Heather Lauer is the Chair of the Blaine County Republican Central Committee