Washington County panel approves ambulance plan

Central EMS to provide coverage in northern Washington County

FAYETTEVILLE -- The Washington County Regional Ambulance Authority's board agreed Wednesday to extend ambulance coverage to northern parts of the county and decided what it will cost.

Springdale has provided ambulance service to Elm Springs, Tontitown, northern Johnson and unincorporated areas of Washington County, including the Sonora and Nob Hill communities, for years. Those areas are set to switch to Central Emergency Medical Service in 2016.

Ambulance Subsidies

The Washington County Regional Ambulance Authority’s plan to extend ambulance coverage to northern parts of the county requires annual subsidies from Elm Springs, Tontitown, northern Johnson and areas of rural Washington County that currently receive ambulance service from the Springdale Fire Department.

Elm Springs, Tontitown, Johnson and Washington County would also be required to pay $189,634 combined in start-up costs in the third and fourth quarters of 2015 and $270,149 combined over the next five years to cover loan payments for a new ambulance.

Those costs are not included in the following subsidy amounts, which are figured on a per capita basis using 2010 Census estimates. All cities will pay $6.06 per person per year in 2016, and Washington County will pay $17.56 per person per year. For the past seven years, cities have paid $4 per person per year, using 2000 Census estimates. The county has paid $15.50 per person per year.

20152016

Elkins$8,892$16,047

Elm SpringsN/A$9,302

Farmington$14,420$36,202

Fayetteville$270,000$445,895

Goshen$3,008$6,490

Greenland$3,788$7,630

Johnson$6,652$21,241

Lincoln$8,236$13,629

Prairie Grove$13,468$26,543

TontitownN/A$14,908

Washington County$561,000$892,774

West Fork$8,168$14,041

Winslow$1,596$2,369

Total$899,228$1,507,071

Source: Washington County Regional Ambulance Authority

Mayors for the authority's 10 current member-cities want Elm Springs, Johnson, Tontitown and Washington County to split the $190,000 price tag needed to hire and train 10 new paramedics and EMTs this year.

Beginning in 2016, the four entities will pay $258,000 combined, according to the plan the ambulance authority approved Wednesday. That works out to $6.06 per resident in cities and $17.56 per resident in the county -- the same rate current authority members will pay in 2016.

Elm Springs, Johnson, Tontitown and Washington County also will be responsible for making loan payments on a new ambulance for the next five years. The cost of the loan payments is $270,000.

The ambulance will likely be housed in Tontitown's rural fire station, near Wildcat Creek Boulevard and Harmon Road, or the Tontitown Area Fire Department, 165 Zulpo St., according to Becky Stewart, Central EMS chief.

The fees for Elm Springs, Johnson, Tontitown and Washington County will be lowered to match other members of the authority once the ambulance is paid off in 2020.

The plan approved Wednesday is contingent on the Washington County Quorum Court taking $230,000 it has paid Springdale annually for rural ambulance coverage and committing it to Central EMS. County Judge Marilyn Edwards said Wednesday she didn't want to speak for individual members of the Quorum Court. But, she added, "I think the answer's yes."

City councils in Elm Springs, Tontitown and Johnson also must approve their share of the expenditures. Elm Springs Mayor Harold Douthit said he'd discuss the proposal with his council Monday.

"It's certainly much more doable from our city's financial standpoint than the first numbers that were put out," Douthit said.

An earlier proposal that would have added two ambulances instead of one would have cost Elm Springs $161,537. The proposal the authority approved Wednesday will cost the city $23,698 this year and $16,041 per year for the next five years.

Fayetteville Fire Chief David Dayringer, who also serves as chairman of the authority's executive committee, said the authority needs commitments from Elm Springs, Tontitown, Johnson and Washington County by June.

"We need to get to work on this as soon as we can, because we've got a lot of training and hiring to do," he said.

Current member-cities, including Fayetteville, Farmington, Prairie Grove and Elkins, will see their payments to Central EMS increase in 2016. Members of the ambulance authority's board in March agreed to increase the subsidies cities pay on a per capita basis from $4 per resident per year in cities to $6.06 per resident per year in 2016.

Washington County's existing subsidy will increase from $15.50 per resident per year to $17.56 per resident per year.

The changes are estimated to bring in an additional $350,000 for Central EMS next year.

The money will help pay for a new ambulance station near Joyce Boulevard and Crossover Road in northeast Fayetteville. The station will also serve the Nob Hill and Sonora communities.

According to Stewart, government subsidies account for less than 20 percent of Central EMS' roughly $10 million annual budget. The bulk of the ambulance provider's revenue comes from patient payments and reimbursements from private insurance and Medicaid and Medicare.

Stewart said following Wednesday's meeting customer fees are not expected to go up in 2016.

She said Central EMS officials expect to provide the same level of service or better after the northern Washington County expansion is complete. The company attempts to respond to at least 85 percent of its calls within 13 minutes in incorporated areas and within 21 minutes in rural Washington County.

Members of the ambulance authority board also discussed the possibility of replacing government subsidies with a dedicated sales tax Wednesday. The move would give Central EMS a funding source that grows as the economy improves -- rather than having to ask board members for periodic rate increases.

Stewart said a quarter-cent countywide sales tax that excluded Springdale would generate about $6.2 million per year. A one-eighth-cent sales tax would generate half that amount, or about double what the authority expects to receive in government subsidies next year.

Stewart said the authority board will continue to look at the sales tax proposal in the coming months. An election on the issue would not be held until at least November 2016.

NW News on 04/16/2015

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