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Commissioners agree to fund four paramedic transport positions now; sheriff vehicle purchase financing to be evaluated alongside fund-balance moves
Summary
County emergency-services leaders asked for eight paramedic transport units and sheriff's vehicle replacements; commissioners signaled consensus to fund four paramedic transport positions initially and asked staff to hold $1.6M earmarked for the volunteer benefit before deciding on vehicle financing or fund-balance use.
County emergency-services and sheriff's office capital and staffing requests drew particular attention during the FY26 work session. Emergency-services staff requested a hybrid model to add paramedic transport units in the county's busiest areas; the full request sought eight paramedic transport units. Commissioners agreed by consensus to fund four transport units now and asked staff to model the operational and budget impacts.
Emergency-services leaders said paramedic vacancies and staffing remain a constraint but reported recent conditional offers and fillings for several vacancies (staff listed multiple conditional offers for full-time EMTs and paramedics). Director Utz and other DES staff described how a hybrid model (chase units plus transport units) would change response patterns in higher-call-volume areas.
The sheriff's office requested $1.6 million for vehicle replacements. Staff told the board the purchase could be financed over five years (debt-service estimate about $379,000 annually) or purchased outright from fund balance. Commissioners asked staff to hold back decisions so they could balance enterprise-fund smoothing, the volunteer-benefit earmark and other priorities. County finance staff reported there is capacity in fund balance and enterprise smoothing options but recommended preserving the $1.6M earmark for the volunteer program until final decisions are made next week.
Ending
Staff will return with updated cost models showing four paramedic transport units, financing options for sheriff vehicles (purchase vs 5-year financing), and enterprise-fund smoothing scenarios for final direction.
