Four ambulance districts and three fire districts in Jefferson County will ask voters on April 7 to approve an increase in the sales tax the districts collect, and one county fire district will ask voters to allow it to start collecting a sales tax.
The Big River, Joachim-Plattin, North Jefferson County and Valle ambulance districts and Antonia, High Ridge and Rock Community fire districts will each seek a half-cent sales tax increase on April 7, and the Saline Valley Fire Protection District will seek a 1-cent sales tax on the April ballot.
The Big River, Joachim-Plattin and North Jefferson County ambulance districts’ sales tax measures are called Proposition EMS, and the Valle Ambulance District’s measure is called Proposition Valle Ambulance Property Tax Relief. The Antonia, High Ridge Rock Community and Saline Valley fire districts’ sales tax measures are called Proposition Fire.
Previously, ambulance and fire districts were not allowed to collect more than a half-cent sales tax in certain Missouri counties. However last August, the state Legislature passed a bill to allow ambulance and fire districts in all counties to collect up to a 1-cent sales tax, with voter approval.
While the state now allows ambulance and fire districts to collect more sales tax revenue, it also requires those entities to reduce the amount of property tax they collect by half of the amount of sales tax collected in the prior calendar year.
“In my opinion, it is a smarter way to fund the services,” Rock Fire Chief Kevin Wingbermuehle said. “The current funding mechanism places most of the cost on our property owners. The proposed funding vehicle through Proposition Fire shares the cost among residents, visitors and commuters. It will directly reduce property taxes as required by law.”
Big River Ambulance Chief Scott Fisher said his district has collected a half-cent sales tax since 2015, and last year, the sales tax produced $980,108 in revenue. He said if voters approved raising the sales tax to 1 cent, Big River may collect an estimated $1.8 million in sales tax revenue, which would reduce the amount of property tax the district collects by about $900,000.
Fisher said the district’s current property tax levy is 26 cents per $100 assessed valuation, and it generated $1,052,963 in property taxes last year.
The district covers approximately 125 square miles, including Byrnesville, Cedar Hill, Dittmer, Morse Mill, Hillsboro, part of House Springs and Grubville.
Joachim-Plattin Chief Tracy Howell said her district has collected a half-cent sales tax since 2008, and last year, that tax produced $4,449,503.79 in revenue. She said if the sales tax increase is approved, the district may collect about $8.8 million in sales tax annually, which would reduce the amount of property tax Joachim-Plattin collects by about $1.5 million.
Howell said the district collected $1,538,769.38 in property tax revenue in 2025, and if the sales tax increase is approved, Joachim-Plattin may stop collecting property tax by 2028.
Joachim-Plattin covers approximately 180 square miles and includes Pevely, Herculaneum, Crystal City, Festus, the Jefferson R-7 area and portions of Barnhart, Hematite, Mapaville, Hillsboro and De Soto.
North Jefferson County Chief Jamie Guinn said his district has collected a half-cent sales tax since 2014, and last year, that tax produced $1,988,231 in revenue. He said if the sales tax increase is approved, the district may collect about $3.9 million in sales tax revenue annually, which would reduce the amount of property tax North Jefferson collects by about $1.95 million.
Guinn said North Jefferson County’s current property tax levy is 45.62 cents per $100 assessed valuation, but that levy is rolled back to about 26.38 cents per $100 assessed valuation due to the sales tax income. He said the district collected about $1.5 million in property tax revenue in 2025.
North Jefferson County Ambulance covers Byrnes Mill, High Ridge, part of House Springs and the Jefferson County portions of Eureka and Fenton.
Valle Ambulance Chief Jesse Barton said his district has collected a half-cent sales tax since 2015, and last year, the sales tax produced $1,626,566.44 in revenue.
He said if voters approved raising the sales tax to 1 cent, Valle could collect an estimated $3,253,132.88 in sales tax revenue, but the district’s overall budget would increase by $813,283.22 due to the mandatory property tax rate rollback of half of the sales tax revenue generated.
Barton said Valle collected $1,516,258.74 in property taxes last year. He said the district’s overall tax levy would likely be reduced from 27.3 cents per $100 assessed valuation to an estimated 14.15 cents per $100 assessed valuation.
Valle covers approximately 233 square miles, including De Soto, Hillsboro, Victoria, Grandview, Hematite, Goldman and other parts of unincorporated Jefferson County.
Antonia Fire Assistant Chief Bobby Chrisco said the district has collected a half-cent sales tax since 2009. He said Antonia Fire collected $509,713.24 in sales tax revenue and $2,637,620.68 in property tax revenue last year.
Antonia Fire’s property tax levy is 89.42 cents per $100 assessed valuation.
Chrisco said the district would likely collect about $1 million in sales tax revenue if voters approve the sales tax increase, which would decrease the amount of property tax Antonia Fire collects by about $500,000.
Antonia Fire’s coverage area is 36 square miles and includes Barnhart, Otto and portions of Imperial and House Springs.
High Ridge Fire Chief John Barton said his district has collected a half-cent sales tax since 2006, and last year, the sales tax produced $2.6 million in revenue. If voters approve raising the sales tax to 1 cent, High Ridge may collect an estimated $5.2 million in sales tax revenue, which would reduce the amount of property tax the district collects by about $2.6 million.
Barton said High Ridge’s current property tax levy is 87.1 cents per $100 assessed valuation, and it collected about $5.1 million in property tax revenue last year.
High Ridge covers 52 square miles in northern Jefferson County, including High Ridge, Murphy, Byrnes Mill and a large portion of House Springs, along with the parts of Fenton and Eureka inside Jefferson County. It also includes the villages of Parkdale and Peaceful Village.
Wingbermuehle said Rock Fire collected $5,185,785 in sales tax revenue last year, and over the last five years, the sales tax generated an average of about $4.8 million a year. He said the district has collected a 1/2-cent sales tax since 2006.
He also said the district’s property tax levy, which is 96.56 cents per $100 assessed valuation, brought in $10,361,569 in property tax revenue in 2025.
Rock Fire covers approximately 38 square miles in Arnold and Kimmswick and portions of Imperial and Barnhart.
Saline Valley Fire Chief Bob Dunn said the district anticipates collecting more than $1 million in revenue if the sales tax is approved, which would reduce property tax Saline Valley collects by about $500,000. The district’s current property tax levy of $1.38 per $100 assessed valuation would likely be reduced by about 13.5 cents if the sales tax were approved.
Dunn said Saline Valley collected $5,532,717.93 in property tax revenue last year.
Saline Valley covers approximately 19 square miles in portions of unincorporated Fenton, Arnold, Imperial, High Ridge and House Springs.
