By Ben Benton
Chattanooga Times Free Press
DUNLAP, Tenn. — Sequatchie County’s ambulance service is rebounding from financial troubles that started in 2006, and could even finish the fiscal year with a surplus.
“We’re starting to dig ourselves out of a hole,” County Executive Michael Hudson said.
Midway through fiscal 2008-09, collections for the Sequatchie County Emergency Services stand at $408,234, Mr. Hudson said. The department’s total budget is a little more than $700,000.
When he was appointed as county executive a year ago, Mr. Hudson said, the ambulance service was having to borrow money from the county.
“Now, they have a fairly healthy fund balance,” he said, and credited the turnaround to the department’s director, staff and billing clerk. “But we’re nowhere near where I want to be. There’s still room for improvement,” Mr. Hudson said.
Commissioners learned of the money problems in September 2007 when they had to loan $115,000 to the ambulance service to keep it running.
Former director Paul Howard, who resigned that month to take a job at the sheriff’s department, told commissioners a keyboarding error and changes in billing procedures led to problems.
Danny Smith, appointed director after Mr. Howard resigned, said the answer was simple. A new billing clerk, Brandi Smith, now keeps up with insurance changes and all the department’s billing remains current, he said.
“She’s been doing an excellent job, keeping us informed and working well with us,” he said.
The department is operating “in the black” except for money still owed to the county’s general fund, he said. That will be paid off as the service becomes more financially healthy, Mr. Smith said.
Meanwhile, the county also is trying to collect on ambulance service bills going as far back as 2006. “That shows you how far behind some of those were. Some of those we’ll never collect and we’ll have to write those off,” Mr. Hudson said.