By Gail Martineau
The Columbus Dispatch
Copyright 2007 The Columbus Dispatch
All Rights Reserved
FAYETTE COUNTY, Ohio — Fayette County commissioners and county emergency-management officials have a tough choice coming: re-evaluate the level of services they provide or search for less-expensive options, such as letting a private company handle emergency runs.
The county Emergency Medical Services agency recently asked commissioners for more money because private billings are not generating enough to cover costs. Commissioner Tony Anderson said the medical services’ 2007 budget, set in December, was $981,020. The commissioners agreed to chip in $65,500.
Since then, the county commissioners have given the medical-services agency another $15,500. The agency says it will need another $100,000 before the year ends.
The EMS has six full-time medics, 20 part-timers and two office employees. Payroll is the largest chunk of the agency expenses, with a budget for personnel estimated at $560,000.
“This is the first year our revenue didn’t cover our expenses,” said John Rockhold, EMS administrator. “We’re billing about all we can, but we’ve reached that plateau.”
Until this year, the emergency service has been entirely self-sufficient through donations and billing.
Anderson said he thinks both the commissioners and the EMS need to look at options for cutting costs.
Among the options: raising county and sales taxes, cutting current personnel or hiring a private company to take over the emergency services, which would mean current EMS employees could lose their jobs.
The commissioners have been in contact with private companies, but no decision will be made until the 2008 budget is set.
“This is a budget issue, not a personal attack on them,” Anderson said. “We expect them to live with that budget they made.”