Pickens Co. residents to vote on referendum in upcoming primary
PICKENS COUNTY, Ala., (WCBI) — Voters in Pickens County will have an extra spot on their ballots when they go to the polls May 19th.
Along with state and county elected offices, they will also be deciding an issue that could affect emergency services.
A ballot initiative would allow the county to collect an extra ten dollar fee on car tags. That money would go to pay for ambulance service in the county.
In 2020, Pickens County suffered a major blow. Its only hospital closed.
That also left the 18,000 residents of the county without full-time ambulance service. .
“When our hospital closed, life changed for us because our ambulance service had to transport to Columbus, Miss., to Baptist or to Druid City Hospital in Tuscaloosa. So that left our county vulnerable because there’s no ambulance service once our one and only ambulance service left.”
Patti Fuller, president of the Pickens County Commission says county officials, state legislators, mayors, EMA, and first responders sat down and worked out a plan to create an ambulance service.
Currently, the county has an ambulance in Gordo to service the northern half of the county, and in Aliceville to service the southern half.
But paying for the service has been another issue. The county and city have worked through ways to share the costs, but efforts still come up short.
The Alabama Legislature passed a bill that would allow Pickens County to collect an additional fee on car tags and registration with the proceeds going to pay for the ambulance service.
But county voters have to approve it.
Aliceville Mayor Terrence Windham says he sympathizes with those who are against the measure, but says this isn’t about politics.
“I hate taxes. I hate new money that has to come out but guess what, if we want to survive as a county — this is a life and death vote.”
If Pickens doesn’t have adequate emergency health services, it could be detrimental in more ways than one.
“Think of this, from Friday afternoon until Monday morning, there’s absolutely no opportunity for healthcare in this county. When our primary doctors leave for the weekend, there’s nothing. So if we didn’t have the ambulance service, what would happen on Friday night football games? What would happen if there was a major car wreck? Who is going to be there to take care of us?” Fuller said.
“Healthcare is an issue that’s nationwide affecting a lot of people so again this is not about Aliceville or Carrollton or Gordo. This is about having healthcare and that’s universal. That’s not a red, that’s not a blue that’s a centralized thing,” Windham said.
“When it comes to paying this car tag money, we’ve got to have this. If we don’t get this $10 funded, we’re gonna lose an ambulance for sure,” Carrollton Mayor Mickey Walker said.
Fuller, Walker and Windham say on the county and municipality side, their budgets are stretched thin and they are pleading with residents for help.
