Muncie council annexes Westminster Village; officials say EMS user fees could fund new ambulance

The Muncie Common Council on Feb. 3 adopted Ordinance 32-24 annexing Westminster Village into the city, a move city fire and EMS officials say will shorten response times and create user-fee revenue that could be used to staff an additional ambulance.

Council adoption came after an extended public discussion during which the city fire chief and union representatives answered questions on current coverage, expected response times and projected revenue from EMS billing. The council voted to adopt the annexation ordinance by roll call.

Why it matters: Officials said the annexation would shift primary fire and EMS responsibility from a volunteer company to the Muncie Fire Department and could allow the city to staff “Medic 7,” a planned ambulance aimed at reducing out-of-area responses and improving coverage across the northwest side of the city.

Chief Keith Burford, identified in the meeting as the city fire chief, told the council that Gaston Volunteer Fire Department currently covers Westminster Village and that its average response was about 16 minutes from their station. He said the Muncie Fire Department’s response times generally fall “right at the edge from the at the 5 to 7 window,” and that Muncie would be able to meet National Fire Protection Association first-arriving complement standards more consistently if the area were inside city limits.

Burford explained how ambulance deployment affects the entire system: “When medic 6 goes out of its territory to go to fives area, then another medic unit area, then another medic unit has to cover their area. It's a snowball effect for us.” He summarized the planned Medic 7 territory as dividing along Wheeling to Bethel, then up Bethel to Magleyard, with areas north of that and west of Walnut becoming Medic 7’s primary area.

Jason Chaffin, president of Local 1348 (the firefighters’/EMS union), urged support for the annexation and the staffing plan, emphasizing the human-service effect on crews: “When we can keep those ambulances in their districts, we can respond better. Everybody in Muncie from the farthest South you can go, to the farthest East you can go, to the farthest West you can go. We'll have better coverage.” Chaffin estimated EMS user-fee revenue from Westminster could be “a $100,000 up to a $177,000 in that range,” but cautioned the exact figure would only be known after billing begins.

Council members pressed for details on the physical site and existing suppression equipment. Councilman Garrett asked whether the buildings have wall-mounted hose cabinets; Burford said the city does not rely on those devices and would conduct inspections if the area becomes city property. Garrett also asked about fire hydrants; Burford said nearby neighborhoods and Villas already have hydrants and that some of those areas are inside current city limits.

Officials also described how added revenue would be used. Burford said the EMS fund user fees from the annexation could be applied to overtime and staffing to keep Medic 7 in regular service; he noted that if staffing cannot be maintained, dispatch algorithms and coverage areas would revert to the current configuration.

Clarifying details provided at the meeting included a city estimate that if the Westminster property were run as a for-profit parcel the city’s share of 3% assessed taxes could be about $10,400 annually (based on 42% of the assessment), and the department’s conservative EMS-revenue range of roughly $100,000–$177,000. Burford cautioned that some of the call-volume and revenue modeling was based on a brief (nine-day) period when an additional ambulance was in service.

The council adopted Ordinance 32-24 by roll call. The ordinance was introduced earlier in the meeting as Annexation Area Number 4, Westminster Village.

Ending: The annexation places Westminster Village within Muncie corporate limits and starts the process for the city to assume inspection and primary fire/EMS duties. Additional budget or staffing steps to formally staff Medic 7 would still require council review and appropriation.