Council asked to fund third ambulance coverage during peak hours after EMS calls rise 10% annually

Fire Chief Chase told the Auburn City Council at its March 24 budget workshop that EMS call volume has risen roughly 10% per year and now exceeds 5,500 calls annually. To reduce missed calls and high reliance on mutual aid during peak hours, staff asked the council to include $135,500 in the FY26 baseline to sustain a third ambulance on duty 40 hours a week throughout the year.

Chief Chase said the department has been staffing a third ambulance 40 hours per week since March on an overtime basis; current budget support covered only four months of that pilot. The requested $135,500 would extend that staffing for a full 12 months during identified peak hours, while the department would continue using existing vehicles and staffing through overtime rather than adding new positions immediately.

Staff estimated additional EMS revenue of roughly $75,000–$80,000 annually from the increased transport and billing capture that the extra staffing would enable. Chief Chase also cited intangible benefits: lower employee burnout, more on-duty training opportunities and greater system reliability when an ambulance is out of service for maintenance.

Councilors asked follow-up questions about how fewer dollars would be used (fewer weekly hours or different days) and whether reduced funding would proportionally reduce the revenue estimate. Chief Chase said the staffing could be reallocated across peak days/hours if the council approved a smaller allocation and promised to return with several scaling scenarios for the council’s FY26 deliberations.