By John Gittings
WiscNews
BARABOO, Wis. — Baraboo Area Fire & EMS District municipalities agreed Monday to collectively double their contributions to the first responders program in hopes of avoiding its dissolution.
Representatives of Baraboo and West Baraboo, and the towns of Baraboo, Greenfield and Fairfield, voted in a commission meeting to increase their contributions so that they’d comprise 37% of the District’s budget next year, up from roughly 18% in 2026.
These increases are meant to address a roughly $2.2 million District budget shortfall that has sparked talks of dissolving the District.
District representatives have said the budget deficits largely stem from inadequate Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements for emergency medical services.
“The current model for funding EMS is structurally unsustainable,” District Chief Caleb Johnson said during a public listening session on Wednesday evening at Carnegie-Schadde Memorial Public Library.
What municipalities will pay
Johnson and paramedic Spencer Nett, the president of the department’s firefighter/paramedic union, International Association of Firefighters Local 5429, gave an overview of the District’s finances during the public session.
Overall, District municipality contributions are going from $1,871,397 this year to $3,140,830 next year. EMS service costs are increasing by more than $1 million, from $791,162 to $1,796,839.
Baraboo, which contributes 70.9% of the Baraboo Area Fire & EMS District’s municipal revenue, is providing $2,226,845 to the District next year, up from $1,301,061, according to city Treasurer Lori Laux.
To make that work, the city is doing some short-term borrowing of $910,000. That will increase taxes on a $300,000 city home by $181.50 for 2027.
“The short-term debt we will be using to increase our municipal contribution is just a one-year fix for 2027,” Baraboo Mayor Rob Nelson said in an email Thursday. “We will either need to repeat the borrowing each year, or find a longer-term source of funds for 2028 and beyond.”
No city services are being reduced or eliminated to cover the increased responder costs, Nelson said.
The town of Baraboo is increasing its district contribution from $214,778 to $338,729. West Baraboo is going from $153,556 to $266,412. The towns of Fairfield and Greenfield are increasing from a combined $201,102 to $308,844.
EMS service is the main driver for the increases.
During the Wednesday listening session, West Baraboo village President Mike Arndt noted that contract negotiations with IAFF L5429 are looming and that department staff likely will bargain for increased wages and benefits.
Arndt, a member of the Baraboo Area Fire & EMS Commission, added that St. Clare Hospital officials told him that billing issues for the District are projected to get worse, not better.
“I’m just here to tell you that the coffer that the money is going to come from is getting pretty dry,” Arndt said to Nett and Johnson.
What led to this
Baraboo Area Fire & EMS District’s operating deficit grew from $210,000 in 2023 to $880,000 in 2025, Johnson said. The deficits have added up to the current debt of roughly $2.2 million.
The District has used $1.8 million in capital funds needed to upgrade equipment to cover operations, including salaries, benefits, training and equipment maintenance.
Medicare- and Medicaid-covered calls comprise about 70% of the District’s calls, but the programs reimburse at just 36% to 38% of the total costs associated with response, Johnson said.
Total District expenses grew 23.1% from 2023 to 2025, while revenue grew just 3.5%.
Services at a glance
The District has answered fewer calls over the last three years, dropping from 3,839 in 2023 to 3,424 last year. Nett attributed that to the District doing fewer inter-facility medical transfers after the former Baraboo District Ambulance Service merged with Baraboo Fire Department in 2023.
Emergency 911 calls decreased from 2,264 to 2,076 from 2023 to 2025.
Calls, though, still arrive simultaneously. On average, 39% of district calls from 2023 to 2026 have overlapped others, which has required pay-per-call staff and aid from neighboring agencies such as Dells-Delton EMS, Sauk Prairie Ambulance, Portage Fire Rescue and Reedsburg Ambulance.
“Outside coverage, while it’s available, it’s not always the most preferred,” Nett said.
He pointed out that response times in the District’s coverage area average between 7 minutes and 34 seconds and 11 minutes and 43 seconds. Meanwhile, outside responses average between 19 minutes and 24 seconds and 26 minutes and 24 seconds when local ambulances are unavailable at the time of a call.
What has been done?
Past cost-saving methods have included the 2023 service merger, cross-training paramedics and firefighters, negotiating a two-year wage freeze for IAFF L5429 employees and switching to a cheaper employee health insurance carrier.
The District might decide not to replace one of its command vehicles in the coming years. Baraboo’s Common Council approved billing nursing homes for lift assist calls on Aug. 25, for which costs are currently not reimbursed to the district. Reducing non-emergency patient transfers to St. Clare Hospital is another future cost-saving consideration.
First responder funding issues aren’t unique to the Baraboo area. More service calls, aging populations, funding constraints and staffing have made it harder for many state responder agencies to continue operating, the Wisconsin Policy Forum indicated in October 2021.
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