By Lela Garlington
The Commercial Appeal
GERMANTOWN, Tenn. —After a three-hour discussion and debate, the Germantown Financial Advisory Commission rejected a proposal Tuesday night for the city’s Fire Department to run its own in-house ambulance service.
“I think this sends a strong message to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen that this size of expenditure is inappropriate at this time,” said commission member Paul Volpe.
While the commission’s vote can influence the aldermen, it is non-binding. The ultimate decision still remains with the five aldermen. Three of them sat in on Tuesday night’s discussion.
If aldermen ignore the commission’s vote, the administration is projecting an ambulance service startup cost to be about $1.33 million.
The commission recommended approval of the city’s general-fund budget that includes a 15 cent increase on the city’s property tax rate, currently set at $1.42 - or a total of $1.57 per $100 of assessed value. That means a homeowner who lives in a $200,000 house would pay an extra $75 a year - for a total of $785. Similarly, a homeowner with a $300,000 house would pay an extra $112.50 or a total of $1,177.50.
City officials say the 15 cents added to the property tax rate would give the city a balanced budget for the next two years.
In a city that prides itself in using outside contractors for a number of city functions, having an in-house ambulance service would be a reversal of that trend. Currently, Germantown is a part of the county’s contract with Rural/Metro Ambulance service. Other contracted services include running the city’s library, mowing grass, planting flowers in the city’s medians and picking up residential garbage, recycling and yard debris.
Before Tuesday night’s meeting, Rick Bennett, who represents Rural/Metro, wrote to the commission and asked if it could submit a proposal for contracted services that would be separate from the current county-wide contract. Bennett requested that opportunity in the meeting that was delayed for about 45 minutes as storm sirens forced members into the basement.
Copyright 2011 The Commercial Appeal, Inc.