Using JavaScript to refresh or retrieve current information on button click

I'll preface this with I'm still new to JavaScript. So problem is in a larger application, our controller is passing in a list of information to the view where certain JavaScript functions rely on certain ViewModel properties. I've written a simple application to hopefully illustrate what I'm getting at.

Below is a sample controller that's passing in List to the Index page:

    public ActionResult Index() {
        List<int> activeIds = new List<int>();
        SqlConnection sqlConn = new SqlConnection(connection_String);

        sqlConn.Open();

        string sqlStr = "SELECT * FROM dbo.[JS-Test] WHERE Active = 1";
        SqlCommand sqlCmd = new SqlCommand(sqlStr, sqlConn);
        SqlDataReader sqlDR = sqlCmd.ExecuteReader();

        if(sqlDR.HasRows) {
            while (sqlDR.Read()) {
                activeIds.Add((int)sqlDR["ID"]);
            }
        }

        sqlDR.Close();
        sqlCmd.Dispose();
        sqlConn.Close();

        return View(activeIds);
    }

This returns the current "active" items in the database. The (rough) view is as follows...

@model List<int>

@{
    ViewBag.Title = "Index";
}

<p>Current Recognized Count: @Model.Count() </p>
<a href="#" id="printBtn">Print</a>

<script>
$(document).ready(function () {
    $('#printBtn').click(function () {

        var numberOfActiveIds = @Model.Count();

        $.ajax({
            type: "POST",
            url: "/Home/PostResults",
            data: { ids: numberOfActiveIds},
            success: function (results) {
                if(results == "Success") {
                    window.location.href = '/Home/Results';
                }
            }
        });
    });
});
</script>

The issue is getting the current number of active items from the database when the button is clicked. Let's say that the user remains idle on the page after it loads for a few minutes. When their page originally loaded, the model returned 5 items listed as active... but while they've been waiting 3 additional items were switched to active in the database for a total of 8. However, when the user finally clicks the button it'll submit 5 items instead of the current 8.

I'm unable to run the query to get the current number of active items in the "/Home/PostResults" ActionResult due to the nature of how the larger application is set up. Is there a way I could refresh the page (getting the updated model) before the rest of the function carries out using values of the refreshed model?

If you have any additional questions, please let me know and I will gladly comply. I've looked at other questions and answers on SO but I haven't found one that quite works for my situation. Thanks!

Edit #1

So, I've added this function to the Home controller which just returns the list count as Json.

    public ActionResult GetIds(){
        List<int> activeIds = new List<int>();
        SqlConnection sqlConn = new SqlConnection(connection_String);

        sqlConn.Open();

        string sqlStr = "SELECT * FROM dbo.[JS-Test] WHERE Active = 1";
        SqlCommand sqlCmd = new SqlCommand(sqlStr, sqlConn);
        SqlDataReader sqlDR = sqlCmd.ExecuteReader();

        if (sqlDR.HasRows) {
            while (sqlDR.Read()) {
                activeIds.Add((int)sqlDR["ID"]);
            }
        }

        sqlDR.Close();
        sqlCmd.Dispose();
        sqlConn.Close();

        return Json(activeIds.Count());
    }

The view script now looks like this...

<script>
$(document).ready(function () {
    $('#printBtn').click(function () {

        var numberOfActiveIds = @Model.Count();

        $.ajax({
            type: "GET",
            url: "/Home/GetIds",
            success: function(response) {
                numberOfActiveIds = response;

                $.ajax({
                    type: "POST",
                    url: "/Home/PostResults",
                    data: { ids: numberOfActiveIds},
                    success: function (results) {
                        if(results == "Success") {
                            window.location.href = '/Home/Results';
                        }
                    }
                });
            }
        });
    });
});
</script>

I'm currently getting the following error...

Failed to load resource: the server responded with a status of 500 (Internal Server Error)

Edit #2

I had to set the JsonRequestBehavior to AllowGet for it to work properly. Thanks again, everyone!