Adams County voters to decide crucial EMS levy in May 2026

Adams County EMS could run out of money by January or February of next year if voters reject the levy on the May 5 primary ballot, a failure that Chief Dusty McCleese said could force the countywide ambulance service to stop operating altogether. McCleese said the agency answers about 6,500 calls a year, and losing that centralized coverage would push far more responsibility onto smaller local providers already stretched by heavy demand.

The levy will appear as an additional 3.5-mill measure because of state-required wording, but McCleese said it is meant to replace the county’s expiring 2-mill levy rather than simply add to it. The current levy once brought in about $1.6 million a year, but after local power plants closed, revenue dropped to roughly $800,000. The new levy is projected to generate between $2.6 million and $2.8 million annually, money county leaders say would stabilize Adams County EMS and help restore support for local agencies.

That vote comes with a tight election calendar. The Adams County Board of Elections has set the primary for Tuesday, May 5, 2026. Early in-person absentee voting begins April 7, and the registration deadline is April 6. The outcome will decide whether Adams County keeps a countywide EMS structure or shifts a heavier burden onto village and township squads.

The stakes are especially visible in West Union and Manchester, where EMS funding has been a repeated source of tension. In February 2025, Manchester residents and officials said the county EMS levy once provided the village with $120,000 annually. In 2021, county commissioners’ decision not to renew EMS contracts with West Union and Manchester sparked a dispute over whether the villages should rely on autonomous local service or countywide coverage.

McCleese said a successful levy could reopen those partnerships. West Union has already met the requirements needed to enter an agreement if the measure passes, while Manchester’s participation remains uncertain. The discussion has immediate implications for response times in places like Liberty Township, Tiffin Township, Brush Creek Township and the Village of West Union, where a 2019 report said the West Union Life Squad covered a 138-square-mile area.

County EMS is also trying to keep pace with the kind of emergencies that can overwhelm a small system. In August 2025, the agency received a mass-casualty trailer capable of treating up to 100 patients, secured through a federal grant facilitated by the Ohio Department of Transportation and FEMA at no local taxpayer cost. But McCleese warned that equipment alone will not matter if the county loses the funding to staff ambulances and keep them on the road.