Brooke McAfee – The Evening News and the Tribune, Jeffersonville, Ind.
Apr. 18—FLOYD COUNTY — Floyd County officials are moving forward in conversations about funding for a potential EMS contract with AmeriPro Health.
The county council and commissioners met for a joint session Thursday to address the EMS issue. No decision was reached, but officials discussed several funding options for a possible contract with the private provider.
Al Knable, president of the Floyd County Commissioners, described Thursday’s conversation as “very productive.”
“I’m going to try to continue to keep my mind open to multiple options,” he said.
The county’s contract with New Chapel EMS will expire at the end of May, giving officials a little more than a month to find a solution for ambulance service.
The council and commissioners will address the EMS issue further at next Tuesday’s joint meeting.
The commissioners moved to pursue contract negotiations with AmeriPro in March, rejecting the other bid from New Chapel EMS.
AmeriPro provided Floyd County officials with updated projections and contract options.
One of the options from AmeriPro would meet the parameters of the request for proposals from the Floyd County Commissioners. This option of about $1.5 million per year would include three ambulances and a paramedic response vehicle for countywide coverage.
However, officials are also considering another option that would come at a lower cost. AmeriPro proposed a $937,200 annual contract with only two ambulances and one paramedic response vehicle for countywide service.
New Chapel currently provides two ambulances and a third at peak run hours for Floyd County. Knable said the second option from AmeriPro would not decrease EMS coverage compared to what is currently being provided in the county.
County officials — including many council members — have been considering a fire-based EMS option with Highlander Fire Protection District.
Highlander’s proposal has drawn criticism from some officials due to its lack of full coverage for the county. It would exclude New Albany Township and part of Franklin.
There have also been concerns about the legality and feasibility of implementing Highlander’s proposal at this time.
FUNDING OPTIONS
Officials debated the potential of drawing from the “spend rate” of the county’s Legacy Foundation to help with EMS costs.
Floyd County Council Member Denise Konkle said this option could add up to about $500,000 to help with EMS. It would involve the “difference between what is being granted this year” from the foundation and “what the spend rate could produce.”
“My suggestion was to ask — just ask — the Legacy board to take $350,000 of that and grant it out and give us the other half a million to get us through the first year of this ambulance service,” she said.
She would like to see a resolution considered to ask the Legacy Foundation for that funding for this year.
“Every year we can do the same thing, but for this year, we can ask them to take a look at putting an upper ceiling on the amount of money that they’re going to grant out,” Konkle said.
She notes that for this year, the AmeriPro contract would only be for about seven months.
Floyd County Council President Danny Short said he would like to take it a “step further” by asking the foundation for that funding on an annual basis.
“That might seem extreme to some people, but for me, that’s a funding source,” he said.
County officials could also potentially pursue the use of the foundation’s principal, but many have concerns about using those funds.
Knable said he is “willing to go that route” of using Legacy funds “provided that we get coverage for the whole county.”
“I’m not going to go down that road if we’re not going to get coverage for the whole county,” he said.
He said he is in favor of the AmeriPro option with two ambulances, saying that would leave the county with a cost of $546,000 for seven months of this year.
County officials are looking into various other sources to cover costs for at least the first year of the contract. Proposals range from broadband funds to rainy day funds.
Long-term funding for EMS is one of the issues facing county officials. Konkle said if the county pursues the contract with AmeriPro, she feels the only “sustainable revenue source” would be to implement an EMS local income tax.
“I don’t see any other way to sustain this,” she said. “We’re talking $3 million [over two years]. So without that, I don’t see how this works.”
Knable said the county will need a “solid plan” in place to pursue a potential tax, but he feels it is worth exploring.
“It takes time to do that,” he said. “It’s a hard sell…I’m just saying it needs to be done in a very, very concrete organized way where we can show people where that money’s gonna be going.”
Floyd County Council Member Connie Moon said she finds it difficult to “come up with a funding source for future years when we don’t know where we’re headed.”
“I think the more information and the more we drill down on what’s going to happen in three years, I think at that point we can get much more information and [a] much better-educated decision on how to fund going forward,” she said.
Konkle said Baker Tilly, the council’s financial advisor, will present suggestions on funding at next Tuesday’s council meeting.
Knable is interested in forming a plan to “really explore” fire-based EMS or standalone EMS, but he supports pursuing a contract with AmeriPro in the short term.
He said although it would be preferable for the county to have three full-time ambulances as outlined in the RFP, the second option from AmeriPro would give fire districts “incubator time” for fire-based EMS service.
FIRE-BASED CONCERNS
Highlander Fire has proposed an option involving two ambulances with advanced life support and another with basic life support for peak run hours. The fire district’s proposal would cost about $802,000 for the first year.
Floyd County Attorney Rick Fox brought up several concerns related to the Highlander proposal and the council’s push for fire-based EMS.
He emphasized that it is the commissioner’s statutory duty to implement ambulance service, and the council’s responsibility is to appropriate funding.
“There’s a bright red line in terms of who does what,” Fox said.
He also noted that the local ordinance for Highlander Fire does not specifically authorize EMS coverage.
“If you, the county council, just took money and sent it to the Highlander Fire District without input from the commissioners, you’re just setting yourself up for a problem with regards to each of the bodies legally,” Fox said.
Officials discussed possible updates to local fire district ordinances in the coming weeks.
AmeriPro provided numbers for potential contracts to cover New Albany Township, Georgetown and Franklin while excluding Highlander’s coverage area.
One option with three ambulances and one paramedic response vehicle would add up to $1.3 million for the townships. The option with two ambulances and a paramedic response vehicle would cost $987,000 for the two townships.
“The amount of the subsidy went up because they didn’t have as many billable runs,” Knable said.
Konkle said county officials “need to be working together.”
“Our job as a council is to come up with the best viable solution that gives our constituents the safety they need but also doesn’t overly burden them,” she said. “We have been trying to do our job in that regard.”
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