EMS services will not be canceled
By
Brandy Chandler-brandychandler@gmail.com
EMS will not be cancelled for 2011 and the contracted services paid for by Hamer, Jackson, Liberty, New Market, Paint, and Washington townships will be honored by the city of Hillsboro through 2011, following an agreement that was reached Friday morning.
Following the agreement, Hillsboro Safety and Service Director Ralph Holt said in a letter to the township that the city was "surprised" to learn that providing EMS through the end of the year would not result in a budget shortfall, even though Hillsboro Auditor Gary Lewis had reported that the city had the funds to continue the services, as contracted, through the end of the year.
The townships have requested that the city provide "hard numbers" on exactly how much it costs the city to provide EMS to each township before negotiations on a 2012 contract can begin.
Highland County Prosecutor Anneka Collins, legal counsel to the townships, told The Highland County Press that Friday that she, and representatives from the six townships that contract for EMS and fire services with the city of Hillsboro met with city and county leaders.
Holt sent a letter to townships in March that set a June 30 deadline upon which EMS would be cancelled due to the financial hardships he said it placed on the city.
Collins said she and the trustees met with Holt, Hillsboro Law Director Fred Beery, Hillsboro Auditor Gary Lewis, Highland County Auditor Bill Fawley, and Highland County Sheriff Ron Ward, and an agreement was reached.
"Gary (Lewis) said the city had the funds to continue the EMS service through 2011," Collins said. "The city will be honoring the contract."
In November, the Hillsboro City Council voted to accept a contract with the townships for fire services at an 18-percent increase over the previous year. As part of the contract, EMS would be provided without charge, other than what the city bills to insurance companies.
"We will start negotiate for 2012 and beyond as soon as we see some hard facts and hard figures concerning how much it costs the city to provide EMS," Collins said. "We've asked those figures be provided no later than June 29."
She said she hopes a contract for 3-5 years can be negotiated. The city has not said how much it costs for each run to the individual townships, which is a figure Collins said they need to know.
"They need to tell us how much it costs, and then we can tell them how we're going to pay for it," Collins said. "I said today, it is negotiating backward. They asked us how much we can pay, when they can't tell us how much is costs to provide services to (for example) Jackson Township. We need a starting point, and that is how much it costs for each run."
Collins said that the matter was able to be resolved quickly once both parties were able to sit down and discuss it.
le="font-size: small;"> "The problem was, no one was talking," Collins said.
Collins said she could not say whether or not the townships would be putting on levies to fund EMS, because at this point they do not know. Township trustees told the Highland County Board of Commissioners earlier this week that they would not put on a levy because they did not think it would pass. Collins Friday they will wait until they have all the information to make a decision.
"The trustees have a lot of good ideas on this, like having the services based on the number of residents, and not how much a house costs," Collins said.
Additionally, Collins said that figures, such as an across-the-board levy of 3.2 mills that had been informally proposed by Hillsboro Fire Chief Jerry Powell and Assistant Chief Ed Puckett is not a
"They can't tell us how many mills it should be because they don't know. They (have not) told us what it costs to provide the services," Collins said.
In the aforementioned letter Holt wrote to Collins Friday, he stated, "Thank you for your assistance in convening a meeting between the city and townships affected by EMS provided by the city. I was somewhat surprised by the city auditor's (Lewis) assessment that we will not have a shortfall in our fire/EMS department this year after all. Our previous actions was predicated in our understanding that such a condition was inevidable. All city departments have made major cuts, which have resulted in staff reductions and termination of equipment purchases. Nevertheless, we have and will continue to rely on the auditor's advice as to the strength of our budget. Therefore, as of today, the city is committed to providing EMS services through the end of the year as presently provided.
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EMS will not be canceled for 2011, and the contracted services paid for by Hamer, Jackson, Liberty, New Market, Paint, and Washington townships will be honored by the city of Hillsboro through 2011, following an agreement that was reached Friday morning.
Following the agreement, Hillsboro Safety and Service Director Ralph Holt said in a letter to the townships' legal counsel that the city was "surprised" to learn that providing EMS through the end of the year would not result in a budget shortfall, even though Hillsboro Auditor Gary Lewis had reported that the city had the funds to continue the services, as contracted, through the end of the year.
Lewis said told The Highland County Press Friday that Holt did not consult him on the budget before he gave the townships the cancellation notice. The city avoided a "financial disaster" by being able to reach an agreement Friday, Lewis said, because the loss of the contracts would have resulted in a deficit for the city.
Lewis said told The Highland County Press Friday that Holt did not consult him on the budget before he gave the townships the cancellation notice. The city avoided a "financial disaster" by being able to reach an agreement Friday, Lewis said, because the loss of the contracts would have resulted in a deficit for the city.
The six townships have requested that the city provide "hard numbers" on exactly how much it costs the city to provide EMS to each township before negotiations on a 2012 contract can begin. Penn Township had initially been part of negotiations, but they are now contracting with the Highland County Joint North Fire and EMS District.
Highland County Prosecutor Anneka Collins, legal counsel to the townships, told The Highland County Press Friday that she, and representatives from the six townships that contract for EMS and fire services with the city of Hillsboro, met with city and county leaders.
Holt sent a letter to townships in March that set a June 30 deadline upon which EMS would be canceled due to the financial hardships he said it placed on the city.
Collins said she and the trustees met with Holt, Hillsboro Law Director Fred Beery, Hillsboro Auditor Gary Lewis, Highland County Auditor Bill Fawley and Highland County Sheriff Ron Ward, and an agreement was reached.
"Gary (Lewis) said the city had the funds to continue the EMS service through 2011," Collins said. "The city will be honoring the contract."
In November, the Hillsboro City Council voted to accept a contract with the townships for fire services at an 18-percent increase over the previous year. As part of the contract, EMS would be provided without charge, other than what the city bills to insurance companies.
"We will start negotiate for 2012 and beyond as soon as we see some hard facts and hard figures concerning how much it costs the city to provide EMS," Collins said. "We've asked those figures be provided no later than June 29."
She said she hopes a contract for 3-5 years can be negotiated. The city has not said how much it costs for each run to the individual townships, which is a figure Collins said they need to know.
"They need to tell us how much it costs, and then we can tell them how we're going to pay for it," Collins said. "I said today, it is negotiating backward. They asked us how much we can pay, when they can't tell us how much it costs to provide services to (for example) Jackson Township. We need a starting point, and that is how much it costs for each run."
Collins said that the matter was able to be resolved quickly once both parties were able to sit down and discuss it.
"The problem was, no one was talking," Collins said.
Collins said she could not say whether or not the townships would be putting on levies to fund EMS because at this point they do not know. Township trustees told the Highland County Board of Commissioners earlier this week that they would not put on a levy because they did not think it would pass. Collins said Friday they will wait until they have all the information to make a decision.
"The trustees have a lot of good ideas on this, like having the services based on the number of residents and not how much a house costs," Collins said.
Additionally, Collins said that an across-the-board levy of 3.2 mills that had been informally proposed by Hillsboro Fire Chief Jerry Powell and Assistant Chief Ed Puckett has not been substantiated by figures officially provided by the city.
"They can't tell us how many mills it should be because they don't know. They (have not) told us what it costs to provide the services," Collins said.
In the aforementioned letter Holt wrote to Collins Friday, he stated, "Thank you for your assistance in convening a meeting between the city and townships affected by EMS provided by the city. I was somewhat surprised by the city auditor's (Lewis) assessment that we will not have a shortfall in our fire/EMS department this year after all. Our previous actions was predicated in our understanding that such a condition was inevitable. All city departments have made major cuts, which have resulted in staff reductions and termination of equipment purchases. Nevertheless, we have and will continue to rely on the auditor's advice as to the strength of our budget. Therefore, as of today, the city is committed to providing EMS services through the end of the year as presently provided."
Holt's decision to cancel the services came a month after council passed a balanced budget that had a projected carryover of $70,000 into 2012. That balanced budget included the cost of EMS.
When Lewis was asked by The Highland County Press what had changed, budget wise, he said that nothing had changed, and that there was no shortfall projection.
However, the loss of the services put the city in a position where they could have a shortfall because they would no longer have the insurance reimbursement from the township runs.
"Things ended on a pretty good note at the meeting, and everyone was positive," Lewis said. "I am comfortable with saying a disaster was averted. If they want to blame me for that, well, I have big shoulders, I can take it."
"Things ended on a pretty good note at the meeting, and everyone was positive," Lewis said. "I am comfortable with saying a disaster was averted. If they want to blame me for that, well, I have big shoulders, I can take it."
Lewis said that after council voted to pass the budget in February Holt did not contact him regarding budget numbers, or before the cancellation letter was sent to the townships.
"The only consultation we had was for the budget itself (in February). There was no consultation prior to him sending the letter to the townships," Lewis said, "not with regard to any changes that would have necessitated that type of move.
"Here is the process. At the beginning of the year, I cooperated with the administration to set their budget," Lewis said. "It's not my budget. The only thing I had control over was projecting the revenue, and when we set that budget, we knew we had a budget we could work with this entire year. After council reviewed it, and had an opportunity to weigh in if they wanted to, I filed with the budget commission at the county auditor's office, as I am required to do. I am also required that if there are any drastic reductions in projections and expenses to amend the resource certificate. At no time did I change those revenue projections, and we are on target with what has been projected. At no time have expenditures drastically increased. We're doing well in that area. If there was any surprise on the part of anyone, I don't know why. But I will fully cooperate in establishing the cost as we spoke about in the meeting today, and I look forward to being a part of seeing this thing through to a very positive end for all people concerned."
Losing the contracts with the townships, he said, would have had significant financial consequences for the city.
"We receive around $225,000 on just fire contracts with the townships alone. It's a little less now because Penn Township has pulled out," Lewis said "So, if this had come to fruition and these contracts expired - and remember, we weren't talking about just EMS. We were talking about fire contracts. Because the issue with EMS is a part of a fire contract, so as a necessity the fire contracts would have been canceled. I would have had to refund $112,000-$113,000 back to the townships. On the expense side, we had a lot of fixed costs. The part-time firefighters that we have, during the budget process we fixed the priced of $190,000 to pay for those part-timers. The logical thing would be, if we let those people go at the end of June, we would have only save about $95,000. And that's just on the fire contracts.
The cancellation of the contracts, ultimately, would have ended up costing the city more, and created a deficit situation.
"There's not enough expense savings to make up for what we (would have) lost in revenue (from the townships). But then we also had the potential of losing revenue from EMS runs themselves. So that would have cost $225,000 to save $90,000. And additional costs would have come along with that. We relieve ourselves of the part-time firefighters, but then there's no one available to come in to cover runs. We would still need people to come in, because we have mutual aid obligations. So we would have to increase our overtime for the full-time people.
"By continuing the services with the townships, we averted a financial disaster, I believe," Lewis said.
On March 25, after Holt informed the townships their EMS would be cancelled within 90 days, Hillsboro City Council president Lee Koogler told the Highland County Press that council had not been informed of the decision, and that the actions could result in a potential deficit for the city.
“I called the auditor to ask if there had been a change to the budget to warrant canceling the contracts,” Koogler said. “What we bill out on EMS services for half a year is $110,000 to $120,000 in potential revenue or at least get in collections. If something happens that would merit the loss of the fire contract, that creates another potential loss of $220,000 to $230,000 in the budget we passed.”
Koogler said that with the city’s projected carryover into 2012 of $70,000, a loss of $230,000 would “certainly” create a deficit for the city. Grandey told The Highland County Press that he is still reviewing the contracts and examining options for the townships.
In response to that, as published in March, Holt said “What we bill out, we only get about a third of that back (of billed EMS runs in the townships),” Holt said. “What we’re spending, and what we’re getting back, is not covering the costs. When we came into 2011, we’ll only have about a $70,000 carryover. Before 2011 is over, things could get really tough. We need to have the townships subsidize the EMS services instead of the city of Hillsboro doing it. I understand that council said, ‘Yeah, we’ll cover you through December 2011.’ However, I’ve got to manage the money, and the budget through 2011. Council doesn’t. I talked to the law director and I explained that I don’t know how to do that. We already cut 10 percent out of the general fund. We’re only going to carry over $70,000. I’m not asking any more than for the townships to pay for services that we provide. And for the past 25 years they haven’t paid. I work for the people of Hillsboro, and those are the people I have to protect.”
Holt thanked Collins Friday for helping put an end to the matter, and getting the concerned parties in the same room and talking.
"I look forward to negotiating with the townships," Holt wrote. "They were eager to engage me in an open discussion and are very capable people to represent their citizens. The previous decision to keep us apart were clearly not the best approach to reaching a resolution. I applaud your decision to bring us face to face. I will have the number for the townships, as agreed, by Wednesday, June 29, 2011."