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County officials cite staffing gap as reason for EMS wage-plan increase
Summary
Woodbury County budget reviewers said a roughly $75,000 increase on the EMS wage-plan line largely reflects an unfilled paramedic position and the county's evolving plan for a fourth medic to improve daytime coverage.
Woodbury County budget staff and supervisors discussed a large increase in the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) wage-plan during the board's budget review, attributing most of the change to an added paramedic slot that remains unfilled and recurring pay costs tied to training and special event coverage. County staff said the line-item increase of about $75,000 corresponds to one full paramedic salary that was added after the prior budget year.
The discussion centered on staffing and coverage. County staff explained the department had been approved for a fourth medic last summer and that position was filled briefly before becoming vacant; the budget now shows funds for that slot even though it is unfilled. Budget staff also noted a number of overtime and special-event pay items (for example, support of county fire association events and a fire school) that add to total payroll costs but are tracked in different line items.
Budget reviewers questioned whether the improvement request for adding hours or positions had been double-counted in the wage-plan line; staff said improvement requests are entered after payroll imports and that the extra amount on the wage plan represented the vacancy and the cost of an added medic slot rather than a duplicate request. Staff told supervisors that formal budget amendments tied to mid-year staffing approvals typically are done in May, not immediately after a board action.
Board members and staff discussed options for improving daytime paramedic coverage, including making the fourth position a daytime weekday role and potentially reassigning an existing duty truck or repositioning the new medic to cover a consistently underserved area. County staff said those plans were under evaluation, using call-volume statistics and consideration of pay-hour equity across crews.
On coverage metrics, county staff said there had not been a day without a medic on duty in recent months, but acknowledged periods where multiple calls occurred at once and tracking of missed or redirected calls can be difficult. The board received the EMS budget materials and voted to receive the item as presented.
