Madison presents draft 2025 municipal budget; EMS transport service largely funded but expects small net cost

Madison officials on Wednesday presented a draft 2025 municipal budget and an update on the borough's newly expanded emergency medical services (EMS), saying they expect EMS billing to cover most costs though the borough will likely absorb a modest net expense.

The draft budget, presented to the Borough of Madison Council as a work-in-progress, shows municipal revenues returning to pre-pandemic levels and identifies a preliminary funding gap of roughly $345,000 that council and administration will close before the final adoption date. The council's budget schedule calls for more departmental presentations, a public review period and an April 28 hearing and vote to adopt the budget.

The draft matters because it frames tax and service decisions for the year ahead: the administration reported higher projected revenues from interest, parking and court fees, offset by expected decreases in state aid and rising salary and health-insurance costs. The draft also flagged several capital pressures, including long-term concerns in the electric utility fund and a future need to replace a 2008 ladder truck.

Chief financial officer Jim (identified in the meeting as the borough finance staff member handling the presentation) told council that municipal revenues are up and that the borough is maintaining a healthy fund balance. On ambulance billing he said the town has recorded seven months of EMS revenue against nine months of operating expenses in the period since the service began and said, “it's gonna be in line with our estimates of it costing net from an operating standpoint, about a 75,000 to the borough to offer that service.” That figure, he said, represents the net operating cost after billed reimbursements.

Fire Chief Whitman said Madison's EMS program moved in April of the prior year from first-response support to transporting patients and that ambulances and the service are now state licensed. Whitman described the department as a combination career-and-volunteer force and said the borough has seen a large increase in calls: the department reported 2,164 responses last year, including a rise in EMS and fire-related calls. He highlighted steps to strengthen response capacity, including per-diem EMT hires, promotion of internal supervisors, confined-space and mutual-aid agreements and a pilot residential Knox Box program to provide secure access for emergency entry.

Council members and the mayor praised the department's work and urged continued attention to training and apparatus maintenance. Council and staff discussed capital timing and the possibility of phasing or postponing nonessential capital purchases if outside grant or federal funding is reduced. The administration noted one longer-term relief point: a major borough bond will be retired in 2028, which will free up roughly $1.5 million in future years.

The budget discussion identified several items that will require further work: a potential 8% cost rise in joint sewer service charges shared with Chatham, higher police salary costs tied to collective bargaining, and ongoing uncertainty in electric utility revenues. Administration recommended conservative assumptions and keeping options open to curtail capital appropriations if external grant funding is delayed.

The council did not take a final vote on the municipal budget at this meeting; the presentation was explicitly labeled a draft and subject to revision.

Ending: Council members scheduled additional budget and department head hearings in coming meetings and reiterated a commitment to finalize a balanced municipal budget at the April hearing.