Williams County Commissioners discuss budgeting changes, if levy passes in November

Williams County commissioners discuss budgeting changes that would be necessary…if the emergency medical services levy before voters passes in November. Staff from Williams County EMS were told if the levy passes, the first payment to them would be made in March, with another coming in late August. Williams County Auditor Vickie Grimm also told the staff the two payments would not necessarily be split in half as those payments would be based on taxes paid at that point. Commissioner Lewis Hilkert cautioned the EMS staff against budgeting for the year based on the March amount since the payment in August might be less, especially if many county residents pay their tax bill in full at the beginning of the year. There were concerns about the lack of revenue the first two or three months of the year if the levy passes, since EMS would no longer be billing patients the full amount but billing to insurance and accepting those payments.