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Willard officials continue planning for local ambulance service, cite revenue and county contributions as key unknowns
Summary
Willard City officials discussed plans to start a local ambulance service, saying costs and anticipated revenue — including county contributions — must be resolved before launch; council put funding in the tentative budget and does not expect service to start until next July.
Willard City officials said the city is studying whether to operate its own ambulance service and has included preliminary funding in a tentative budget, but they do not expect a local service to begin until July of next year.
The discussion came during the May 15 Willard City Planning Commission meeting when the mayor summarized recent council work on vehicles and emergency services. "No. It won't be by July," the mayor said when asked about an earlier target, adding that the city "put it in the budget to proceed forward, but we wouldn't anticipate it would actually fire up till next July."
The mayor and other commissioners said the core unresolved questions are projected revenue and whether the county will contribute. "It really comes down to what the revenue would actually be. So we were going to get a study done," the mayor said. Council staff must compare cost estimates received from outside providers with local projections to decide whether to raise taxes or add an emergency-services fee.
If Willard operates an ambulance service the city expects to carry many calls outside city limits, which would require intergovernmental agreements or payments. "About half our calls are outside the city limits," the mayor said, noting that county residents currently benefit from Willard's responses. Officials said they need to determine "what the county needs to contribute" before committing to local service.
Councilors also compared a recent Brigham City quote for ambulance service (described during the meeting as "just over $300,000") with in-house costs and the revenue the city might expect from transports. Officials said Brigham's cost and the revenue difference will factor into any decision about contracting versus operating a local service.
The commission did not take formal action on the matter at the May 15 meeting. Staff and elected officials said they will pursue a financial study, clarify likely revenue streams, and seek county participation before returning with a recommendation.
Officials flagged that any change to local ambulance service will also interact with broader public-safety budgeting decisions; they indicated additional budget hearings and follow-up work will be needed in coming months.
