Dunn County officials briefed on countywide fire and EMS study; recommendations expected within months

County staff told supervisors on April 9 that a multi-jurisdiction study of fire and emergency medical services in Dunn County is underway and could produce recommendations this year that would change how ambulance and EMS services are funded and managed.

Dan (county staff), who presented the briefing at the committee meeting, said the Town of Elk Mound applied for and received an innovation planning grant to fund a study examining options such as shared services, county operation of ambulance services, or county-managed contracting. “We’re looking at what is a better way to do this because it’s a failing system,” Dan said during his presentation.

The study’s origin and scope: Town officials led the application for a planning grant intended to support a future innovation grant. UW Extension and a contracted third party are now collecting data from every provider in the county, including career and volunteer ambulance services and multiple volunteer fire departments, Dan said. The presenter described a complex provider map: two career ambulance departments and several volunteer services based in Menomonie, Colfax, Glenwood, Elmwood, Boyceville and Durand; the presenter also noted some providers that serve parts of Dunn County but are based outside it (for example, Dallas).

Drivers of the review: presenters and supervisors cited several pressures: staffing declines among volunteers and career crews, rising personnel and capital costs (including dramatic increases in the price of fire apparatus), and the fact that small towns may spend a large share of their levy on ambulance services. Dan showed local data from the Town of Elk Mound that illustrated the pressure on small municipalities: the town’s ambulance expense was presented as 28% of the levy in 2024 and estimated at 5% in a later year in the presenter’s chart (figures provided by the town for planning purposes).

Legal and fiscal implications: the county’s presenter cited Wisconsin law and budget provisions that make EMS an exception to the county levy limit: “The levy limit otherwise applicable … does not apply to the amount that a county levies in a year for countywide emergency medical system,” he read aloud. Because county levies can be exempted, Dan said, some options the study may recommend would involve shifting funding or management to the county level; that shift could reduce municipal levy pressures but raise county levy obligations.

Possible options under study include: county-owned and -operated ambulance service; county levy with county contracting to a single provider; or county levy with multiple contracted providers and county financial oversight. Dan said the process is in data-collection phase and that recommendations are likely in the next two to three months, though the timeline depends on cooperation from municipal and district providers.

Committee reaction: supervisors emphasized the potential for inequitable mutual-aid burdens across districts (Menomonie was described as frequently absorbing mutual-aid calls), the difficulty of recruiting volunteers, and the impact of large capital replacements on small-community budgets. Supervisor Steen and others urged considering countywide models used in other states and stressed the trade-offs between local control and sustainable service delivery.

Ending: County staff said they will return with study recommendations and that any proposal that changes funding or responsibilities would come before the county board for decision.