The Grundy County commissioners on July 12th shared their reactions to a petition being circulated to put a measure on the November ballot that would establish an ambulance district for the county.
Presiding Commissioner Phillip Ray said he thought of things as a county employee and his time working for the ambulance service. He also thought about his experience as a commissioner and seeing legislation and how it affects ambulance districts versus what it does when an ambulance service is run by a county.
Ray noted Grundy County is now one of two counties in Missouri to run an ambulance service. The other is Cole County.
Commissioner Brad Chumbley said he respects the decision of the voters and is not for or against an ambulance district.
He wants to make sure taxpayers understand what they would get, and he would hate to see an action made that is not “110% thought through.” He does not want something to be done too quickly because people could run into hidden costs.
Chumbley wants voters to get the information they need to make an informed decision.
Commissioner Don Sager said he was 100% in favor of an ambulance district.
If an ambulance district was formed, Ray reported the county can transfer assets to the new district, including equipment.
Sager noted the ambulance financial reserve has $1.47 million in it, and that money would be transferred. He explained the ambulance financial reserve is kept at that level, so if there was no income for the ambulance for a year, it could still operate.
He reported the county has a general revenue sales tax that is used to fund the ambulance service and 911 system. The ambulance runs on the 911 system. He noted that $600,000 was rolled out of the ambulance fund this year.
County Clerk Betty Spickard explained money is deposited into the ambulance fund and then is budgeted to transfer. The money this year was used for upgrading the 911 system. A new system was purchased because the other system was described as outdated. Upgrading 911 towers are also being discussed.
Spickard noted the ambulance service cannot run without 911 dispatch, and that is why the money is used to go toward improving 911.
Sager said the sales tax would be called a 911 tax if the county no longer ran the ambulance service. If an ambulance district was formed, there are some options for what to do with the tax money.
Ray reported that, if an ambulance district was created like in most surrounding counties, the district would be charged a fee to use the 911 system. He noted the fee is not a set amount, and it is “quite nominal” in some cases.
At this time, Sager said ambulance employees are not on the same pay scale as other county employees at the courthouse or sheriff’s office. However, they do only receive a raise when other county employees do.
Ray reported starting pay is $11.50 per hour for emergency medical technicians and $14.50 for full-time paramedics. He stated that figured to an annual salary of $38,410 for EMTs and $47,560 for paramedics.
Ray said when the commission was working on the budget in January, he called about 30 ambulance services in North Missouri to gather information. That information included jurisdictional population, call volume, shift structure, if they had a critical access hospital in their jurisdiction, how many emergencies versus inter-facility transfers they do, starting wages, and approximate operating budget.
Ray said the information he received from Cameron was that full-time EMTs there start at about $38,000 per year and full-time medics at $43,000 per year.
Chumbley thinks the perception is that the Grundy County Ambulance starting salary seems low, however, he explained ambulance employees work 48-hour shifts. When the county budgeted for ambulance employees, it budgeted for 2,080 hours of straight time and 840 hours of overtime.
Chumbley added that the county commission works diligently to try to give a fair wage.
Grundy County Ambulance held a public meeting with the county commission in May. At that time, Ray recommended reinstating an Ambulance Advisory Board. On July 12th, he said the board has been reinstated and met to look at the information, however, the county commission has not yet heard recommendations from the board.
Members volunteered to be on the Ambulance Advisory Board. The members are Jim Skipper from Wright Memorial Hospital, Brent Stevens from the Northwest Missouri Workforce Development Board, Cassy Gilworth as a citizen at large, Bill Meeker as a retired EMS employee, and Doctor Tristan Londre from North Central Missouri College.
If the district was approved by voters, Ray said when the district would officially start, with the formation of a board or not, would depend on how the ballot issue is stated. If the district is not approved, Sager noted things are expected to stay the way they are now.
Ray explained Grundy County Ambulance has provided mutual aid and assistance to surrounding counties for years. He mentioned the county has provided more mutual aid than it has received.
Ray reported mutual aid is reciprocated with departments being short-staffed. If Grundy County Ambulance got to the point it had hardly anyone working due to staffing problems, he said mutual aid would be used. Sager said an estimated wait time for service would depend on which ambulance department was coming.
Ray added that Grundy County is lucky to have “an excellent working relationship” with area counties regarding mutual aid.
Sager reported the commission will have to fire ambulance employees if a district is formed because they would no longer be county employees. They would have to be rehired by the district if it chose to rehire them.
Ambulance Employee Jenny Hunter reported last week that the petition to form an ambulance district needs about 600 signatures before it can be submitted to the Grundy County Clerk’s Office, and the signatures can be certified. The deadline to submit the signatures is July 15th.
