Patricia R. Doxsey – Daily Freeman, Kingston, N.Y.
KINGSTON, N.Y. — A proposal by Ulster County Legislator Jason Kovacs to give money to towns for emergency medical services failed to gain any traction with the Legislature’s Law Enforcement and Public Safety Committee.
After the proposal was panned by Ulster County Executive Jen Metzger’s staff, committee members voted to postpone consideration of the proposal.
Kovacs, R-town of Ulster, wants to take $5 million out of the county’s fund balance and divvy it up among the county’s 20 towns and city of Kingston to be used to help defray the burgeoning costs of providing emergency medical services.
He proposed the money be shared among the municipalities based on population and assessed value. He said based on that formula, the least a municipality would receive is $19,000 and the most a municipality would receive would be $350,000.
The recommendation comes as municipalities struggle with the rising costs of providing emergency medical services in their communities. A report prepared for Ulster County by the Center for Public Safety Management and released in 2024 found that six of the 17 ambulance agencies, or 35% of agencies, are responding to less than 70% of their calls. The report stated that due to challenges facing rural EMS providers across the U.S., combined with community feedback in Ulster County, these challenges are only likely to grow in the future.
“Our county is at a critical junction when it comes to emergency medical services,” Kovacs said during the March 4 committee meeting. “Our EMS system is in distress.”
He said providing the additional funding would “address the problem head-on” by helping municipalities defray the cost of providing the services.
“This is a targeted investment in community safety,” he said.
Everett Erichsen, the director of the county’s Department of Emergency Services, said while the intent of Kovac’s resolution is “commendable,” the proposed execution of the plan is “fundamentally flawed.”
He said the proposal poses structural and financial challenges and would be “inherently inefficient” since the formula is based on population and land value and not on emergency services needs.
He said the proposal also fails to include any “performance-based standards,” doesn’t provide for direct financial reimbursement to the emergency services agencies and failed to address the shortage of personnel.
In February, the county applied to the state Department of Health, Division of State Emergency Medical Services for a municipal certificate of need that would allow the county to partner with local emergency management service agencies for advanced life support coverage in targeted areas.
As proposed, the Department of Emergency Services would be responsible for contracting with existing advanced life support providers and would oversee billing and service, with those costs shared among participating municipalities and agencies.
The county is currently waiting for the state to act on its application.
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