By Frank Espinoza
Rapid City Journal
RAPID CITY, S.D. — The Rapid City Fire Department has notified Pennington County it will no longer be able to provide Emergency Medical Services for rural areas after the end 2026. The Pennington County Board of Commissioners has expressed its support for funding rural medical response and is looking into where to find the money.
Under South Dakota law, EMS is currently not considered an essential service that must be funded by local governments. In 2025, House Bill 1043 would have required counties and municipalities to fund Emergency Medical Services, but the bill was shot down in committee. In 2026, Senate Bill 89 created the Emergency Medical Services Funding Task Force to look into whether EMS is an essential service. What the task force finds, and if any laws will come from it, is still to be determined.
| NEW RESOURCE: What Paramedics Want in 2026
In the meantime, the commission voted unanimously on July 7 to formally send a letter to RCFD Chief Jason Culberson to express support for proper funding to continue services outside of Rapid City limits.
According to Commissioner Jerry Derr ( District 4 ), the RCFD notified the commission ambulance service outside the Rapid City municipal limits will cease, effective Dec. 31, 2026, if further funding cannot be found to meet the growing needs.
Culberson told the Journal, “The ambulance service is funded through an enterprise fund run through the city. Revenue was/is generated when a patient is transported ...No funding has stopped, we are asking for funding to continue to provide the service. We are no longer able to provide services outside the city without funding.”
According to the city’s 2026 budget, ambulance enterprise funds were approved at $7.2 million for the year. An enterprise fund is self-supported through user fees.
Derr’s said the department needs an estimated $800,000 to continue ambulance coverage for the unincorporated areas, and he said there were about 2,655 calls made in 2025 for ambulance services in unincorporated areas of the county.
Culberson said, “We do not want to expand. We are already providing services to these areas. Again, we are asking for agreements and a funding mechanism to continue to provide the service in the areas. Ultimately, we are unable to provide the service the way it has been done.”
Derr stated in a memo to the board the affected areas are primarily rural areas of District 4 , which encompasses much of eastern Pennington County, including New Underwood. Derr represents the district. He also stated the RCFD has advised him this issue comes as the service “cannot continue to bear the financial burden” of medical services without further funding.
The letter to Culberson is the beginning of a discussion on steps to take between the two entities to ensure future services for rural county residents.
The letter asks the RCFD:
- What estimated level of funding would be required to continue ambulance service into 2027?
- What geographic service area would that funding support?
- Would that service area include New Underwood and the other rural areas currently served by Rapid City Fire?
- Would Rapid City Fire be willing to enter into a short-term agreement while a permanent funding model is established?
- What terms, conditions, or commitments would Rapid City Fire require in order to continue providing service during that transition period?
“No resident of Pennington County should ever wonder whether an ambulance will come when they call 911. Sustainable EMS service is a public safety necessity, not a luxury,” Derr’s informative presentation read.
Culberson notified the commission of the changes by writing a letter in Dec. 2025, stating the city since 2003 has provided some EMS to many county residents with no subsidy and has been without a contract with the county since 2007.
Derr’s presentation looked at three possible solutions for continuing services, which included a direct county levy with a rate of either a .251 mill rate for full property value (based on value of the entire property within the taxing area) or .329 mills for owner-occupied only (based on value of each owner-occupied property within taxing area) year to contract with RCFD.
A mill levy is a property tax based on the assessed value of a property; one mill is equal to one dollar per $1,000 of assessed value. The levy is calculated by determining the amount of revenue each jurisdiction needs to fund its budget for public services, such as schools, parks and libraries.
If a home in the county were valued at $300,000 and the mil levy was approved at .251 then the cost to fund services would be $75.30 a year. If the county approves the owner-occupied rate of .329 for an estimated home value of $300,000, then the yearly cost would be $98.70.
Derr’s also noted the county could look at a special assessment of collecting $119 for each owner-occupied home regardless of value or using funding from the county’s general fund.
They are also not limited partnering with RCFD as they can create an ambulance district to contract with other agencies.
“The counties are not mandated to provide ambulance services. The fact of the matter is it is really part of what we should be doing is helping create ambulance districts and find out how they get funded,” Commissioner Ron Weifenbach ( District 2 ) said.
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