Commissioners review EMS subsidy and propose maintaining higher local EMS tax rates to reduce general-fund support

County staff presented audited 2023-24 EMS revenues and expenses and recommended maintaining or restoring a 5-cent-per-$100 property-tax rate in most EMS districts to reduce the county general-fund subsidy.

On the revenue side, staff reported 2023-24 EMS departmental expenses at about $3.922 million and patient billing receipts near $900,000. Using the budget recommended for the coming year, staff said patient-billing receipts are expected to rise to about $1.3 million, in part because of higher reimbursement rates and more trip volume. Even with increased patient billing and higher EMS district tax rates, EMS will still require a general-fund subsidy but at a reduced level.

County staff walked commissioners through the revenue-neutral calculations for each EMS district. For example, Washington Township EMS's revenue-neutral rate was shown at 3.3 cents per $100 valuation, which would generate roughly $247,000; staff recommended keeping the rate at 5 cents, which would generate about $374,584 (an additional $127,358 for that district). Similar recommendations were shown for Bath Township and other districts.

Staff said the recommended district-rate increases would reduce, but not eliminate, the general-fund subsidy for EMS; they also noted that some overhead (dispatch at 911 and management time) is not allocated in the EMS department's expense sheet.

Commissioners and fire/EMS leaders discussed daytime response capabilities and how higher district rates could help fund staffing and operations. No formal tax-rate change was adopted at the workshop; the presentation was part of the budget planning process.