Benton County Officials Seek Ambulance Ideas

ROGERS -- Benton County's justices of the peace heard the same questions and offered the same answers as they took their discussion of rural ambulance service on the road Friday.

Five of the county's 15 justices of the peace attended a meeting of the Governmental Affairs Committee of the Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce. The session drew about 20 people, including the five justices of the peace and Tom Leadabrand, an unopposed candidate for the District 12 seat on the Quorum Court.

What’s Next

Funding Proposals

Benton County’s Quorum Court is set to consider proposals for rural ambulance service when it meets at 6 p.m. Thursday in the Quorum Courtroom at the County Administration Building, 215 E. Central Ave. in Bentonville.

Source: Staff Report

Tom Allen of District 4 and chairman of the Finance and Legislative committees, said he was glad to have city officials and residents at the meeting, but was disappointed at the size of the gathering.

"We were mostly talking to ourselves, the handful of city officials and the chamber folks," Allen said. "Everybody here was pretty familiar with the issues. There wasn't a lot of input or other ideas."

Jeff Geurian with CEI Engineering in Bentonville agreed the discussion broke no new ground. Geurian is puzzled by the opposition to paying for rural ambulance.

"I didn't hear anything I wasn't familiar with," he said. "It is amazing to me how it can be so difficult to get a solution to this problem. I think there's a misperception on the part of some people about the need to get ambulance service funded."

Jerry Carmichael, chairman of the chamber committee, said people need to understand the situation isn't a city versus county issue. He said everyone in the county, both rural and city residents, should want to have the service available in case of emergency.

"At the end of the day, if you dial 911 you want help," he said.

The county is considering forming an emergency medical services district with an annual $40 fee. The district would cover all of the unincorporated areas of the county except the area served by the Northeast Benton County Fire Department. A similar plan with an $85 annual fee was rejected by voters in February.

The county also is considering a millage of 0.2 mills to pay for the service. An additional 0.2 mill levy would increase the annual tax by $4 per $100,000 of value of the property, according to information from the county. The tax would apply to rural and city residents.

The justices of the peace are debating whether to send one or both proposals to a vote at the Nov. 4 general election.

Mike Crandall, accounting manager, estimated the $40 fee would raise about $527,868. The millage levy would raise about $833,981. Revenue from either source would be dedicated to pay for rural ambulance service only.

Service to the unincorporated areas is provided by seven municipal fire departments and the Northeast Benton County Fire Department. State law requires a "mutually acceptable" agreement between the cities and the county if municipal ambulance service is to be used outside the cities. Talks about the cost of ambulance service have been going on since 2009.

Suggestions the county consider a sales tax to pay for rural ambulance service are unlikely to be adopted, Allen said.

"The smallest sales tax you can propose is a one-eighth cent sales tax," he said. "That would raise an estimated $4.2 million for the county. We only need $1.2 million to fund the ambulance service. Why would anyone vote to raise taxes by $4.2 million when we only need $1.2 million?"

NW News on 07/19/2014

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