Ambulance providers tell lawmakers the current system already struggles to keep pace with costs and demand
OKLAHOMA CITY — Rural ambulance providers are warning that Oklahoma’s property-tax-based funding system is already struggling to keep pace with rising costs and demand, just as reducing property taxes is becoming a bigger issue in state politics.
During a recent House interim study, EMS officials described districts that sometimes run out of available ambulances and increasingly rely on patient billing and hospital transfers to supplement voter-approved property taxes.
The issue could take on greater significance next year. Republican gubernatorial nominee Mike Mazzei is campaigning to eliminate homestead property taxes for seniors 65 and older and veterans.
Mazzei’s plan says spending reductions and economic growth could help offset lost collections and that local voters could decide whether to replace the lost revenue. It does not specify a dedicated replacement for EMS districts.
At the House hearing, Rep. David Hardin, R-Stilwell, said lawmakers may need to look beyond property taxes to keep rural ambulance services operating.
“We’re going to have to figure out another form of funding,” Hardin said. “We’re going to have to look at other means than going after the landowners, at least where I live.”
The hearing was led by Rep. Mike Dobrinski, R-Okeene, and focused on Oklahoma’s so-called 522 EMS districts, which receive voter-approved property-tax revenue for ambulance service.
Providers said that revenue has not kept pace with what it costs to keep ambulances staffed and ready.
Brandi Pond, executive director of Oologah-Talala EMS in Rogers County, said her district’s call volume more than doubled from 2020 to 2025 while operating costs rose from $1.4 million to $2.2 million. Property-tax revenue increased much more slowly.
She said the service expects to need about $2.5 million this year and cannot sustain itself on property taxes and 911 calls alone.
Bryan County EMS Chief Brian Norton said his service covers about 990 square miles with five ambulances and handles more than 8,000 calls a year.
“We run out of trucks every day,” Norton told lawmakers.
That can mean patients wait while crews handle other emergency calls, hospital transfers or calls for help from neighboring counties.
The funding discussion highlighted the tension between calls to reduce property taxes and local services that depend on that revenue. One EMS official warned lawmakers that reductions in property-tax collections could have a significant effect on ambulance districts.
Oklahoma law already gives counties another option: voters can approve a sales tax of up to 1% dedicated to EMS. But participants said no single funding solution is likely to work everywhere.
Dobrinski said some districts might benefit from consolidation and that lawmakers also could examine “treatment in place,” which could allow EMS crews to treat some patients without automatically transporting them to a hospital.
“It’s obvious there are no easy solutions,” Dobrinski said.
He did not announce a specific legislative proposal but said the discussion will continue. EMS representatives told lawmakers they are developing additional ideas to bring back before the next session.
