Reserve funds set aside for the Blaine County Ambulance District are quickly being depleted to help finance the continuing operations of the struggling district, Blaine County Administrator Mike McNees said Monday.
McNees said the ambulance district's reserves are anticipated to drop to $312,179 by Oct. 1, from the $459,815 that were in the fund on Oct. 1, 2007.
One purpose of the reserve fund is to finance the district's operations each year from October through December. Property tax revenue, which funds about 70 percent of the district's nearly $1.7 million budget, doesn't begin to come in until after Jan. 1 of each year. McNees said property taxes are meant to replenish the reserve fund, but have not kept pace with the district's outlays.
McNees' dire summary of the state of the ambulance district's financial condition comes just seven weeks before voters in Blaine County are scheduled to vote on a property tax levy rate override request. In March, the Blaine County Commission voted unanimously to set a May 27 election date.
Prior to setting the date for the vote, the county commissioners heard testimony from local emergency services officials who warned that county residents could soon lose the high level of paramedic service they enjoy unless something is done to boost funding for the cash-strapped ambulance district.
If approved by two-thirds of the voters, the override would raise an additional $350,000 per year for the district and increase property taxes by $3 per $100,000 of assessed value. The increase in the district's budget from property-tax revenues would take effect for the next fiscal year, beginning Oct. 1.
Approval of the measure would provide the district with funds for ongoing operations costs and replacement of ambulances.
For now, the district is operating on a nearly $500,000 annual budget shortfall, officials say.
In the ambulance district's 22-year history, the county has never asked voters to approve a levy override, McNees said.
Idaho law only allows taxing districts to increase their budgets by 3 percent per year, which the ambulance district has done, but that has not allowed it to keep pace with rising costs due to inflation. Larger increases to property taxes must be approved by voters as part of a levy-rate override.
McNees said the county would prefer to replace its fleet of seven ambulances on a cycle of one vehicle per year, but hasn't been able to do so in recent years because of the lack of funding. He said the oldest ambulance in the county's ambulance fleet is a 16-year-old vehicle operated by Ketchum.
"(Ketchum Fire Chief) Mike Elle says we don't send it out of city limits," McNees said.
For the current fiscal year, the ambulance district is anticipated to receive about $270,000 in ambulance payments generated through fees charged to individual users of the service. McNees said the county commissioners have asked chiefs from the Ketchum Fire Department and Wood River Fire & Rescue, which respectively operate the north and south county ambulance contracts, to come back to them with updated fees to boost that revenue portion of the district's budget.
For now, a ride on an ambulance in Blaine County costs users a set $550 fee plus $9 per mile from pickup to the hospital.
McNees said the county's philosophy for funding the ambulance district, which began operations in 1986, is that county taxpayers pay their property taxes to have the ambulance service available, while the individual transport fees go to use the service.
"Which I think is a pretty reasonable philosophy," he said.
For the current 2007-2008 fiscal year, the county is paying the Ketchum Fire Department $813,000 to operate its north county ambulance contract. That compares to $739,267 the county paid Ketchum during the 2006-2007 fiscal year.
For the current 2007-2008 fiscal year, the county is paying Wood River Fire and Rescue $708,528 to operate its south county ambulance contract. That compares to $672,123 paid during the 2006-2007 fiscal year.
The district's rising operational costs are partly explained by escalating prices for fuel, tires and other necessary equipment, Blaine County Emergency Medical Services Director Dr. Keith Sivertson said Tuesday.
"Everything costs more," he said.
Sivertson said a big chunk of the rising operational costs also has to do with employee costs. He said the cost of providing worker's compensation and liability benefits, which the ambulance district has no control over, is one element putting a strain on its budget.
"Your benefit costs go up even if your salaries don't," he said.
Sivertson said the ambulance district is an efficiently run operation. He said the district benefits from the efficiencies created by its partnership with the Ketchum and Wood River fire departments, which use cross-trained firefighters as paramedics.
He said that has been an especially successful partnership.
"No one questions that," he said.
Sivertson explained that one reason why users pay high fees for ambulance rides is so tourists who travel to the area and don't pay property taxes can help fund the ambulance district.
If the override is passed, property owners in the county would see a range of tax increases based on property assessments. The average home value in 2007 for Ketchum was just over $900,000, while the average for Carey was about $160,000. Using these figures as a basis, property taxes in Carey would increase an average of about $5 per year under the proposed tax hike. In Ketchum, the average homeowner would see an increase of about $27 per year.
Without a funding increase, county residents could one day see a significant decline in the level of emergency ambulance services they receive, Sivertson said before the county commission in March.
"That's the kind of magnitude we're looking at to close that (funding) gap," he said.
Sivertson said that would mean longer response and transportation times for many county residents, especially those living in places like Bellevue as well as in outlying areas like Carey. He said the ambulance district is at the point at which "very hard" decisions may have to be made if funding is not increased to keep pace with inflation.
Blaine County first received paramedic-level ambulance service in 2001.
'We absolutely need this'
Ketchum stands behind proposed levy increase
By JON DUVAL
Express Staff Writer
While the absence of the Ketchum fire chief kept City Council members from adopting a formal resolution to support a proposed levy increase for the Blaine County Ambulance District, it did not keep them from making clear where they stood on the issue.
Chief Mike Elle, thanks to the arrival of a baby girl, was unable to attend the council meeting on Monday, April 7, and provide the resolution necessary for proclaiming the city's support, but Mayor Randy Hall concisely summed up the sentiments of the elected officials.
"We absolutely need this," Hall said.
The levy, if approved by Blaine County residents, would increase property valuations by $3 per $100,000 and help the ambulance district maintain a high level of service. The district is operated by the Ketchum Fire Department for county land north of the Greenhorn Bridge and by Wood River Fire & Rescue to the south.
Ketchum's support for the levy is not legally required but would add political backing. An educational group called Support Adequate Funding for Emergency Response has not yet approached the valley's other cities to seek their support.
Len Harlig, a former county commissioner and head of the educational group, made a short presentation to the council and public, explaining that the cost of operating the service is growing faster than the 3 percent annual increase in tax revenue allowed by the state. The district has operated without a levy override since its inception in 1986.
"The county has done an admirable job holding out this long, looking for efficiencies and getting the most bang for the buck," Harlig said. "Now we have to fill that gap."
Harlig said that while emergency medical technicians and first responders play an important role, it is imperative to be able to provide paramedic-level service, especially as the number of residents increases, as do the number of houses farther away from St. Luke's Wood River Medical Center.
County Commissioner Tom Bowman concurred, adding that while the ambulance district's money wouldn't run out next year, there would be a gradual decrease in the level of service, such as not having the appropriate vehicles available for standby.
Ketchum Assistant Fire Chief Robbie Englehart said that with about 15 percent of ambulance calls happening simultaneously, the ability to have multiple crews ready is more important than ever.
"This is something that can only get worse as the population grows and ages," Councilman Larry Helzel said.
With a 66.6 percent majority of the vote needed to approve the levy, Mayor Hall said support from the city officials would hopefully help gain the necessary votes.
A Wood River Fire and Rescue ambulance leaves the scene of an accident between Ketchum and Hailey. On May 27, county voters will consider a levy-rate override to local property taxes to boost funding for the cash-strapped Blaine County Ambulance District. Photo by David N. Seelig
