EMS director requests $7,300 in immediate reimbursements and asks county to identify equipment funding

Leonard Hafos, identified in the meeting as the EMS director, asked the Perry County Commissioners for additional appropriations to cover recently purchased ambulance equipment and impending preventive maintenance for stretchers.

Hafos said some equipment was bought after earlier guidance that purchases would be paid from an equipment line item. "We already purchased 2 blanket warmers, 2 fluid warmers, and the stair chair," he said, adding that invoices were already recorded on county profit-and-loss reports. He said the blanket warmers and fluid warmers were placed on the county P&L for February/March and that the stair chair cost $52.64. The IV warmers were described as "just shy of $1,500" and the blanket warmers as about $800 for both, and Hafos estimated preventative maintenance for four stretchers would be about $2,000 (roughly $200 per stretcher plus a $500 vendor call fee).

Hafos explained the budget complication: county leaders recently reallocated American Rescue Plan (ARP) purchases and created a new multi-year equipment reserve so that one-time federal and tribal funds used to buy ambulances and major equipment would not mask the need to set aside a recurring county capital amount. That reorganization moved prior annual equipment-setaside dollars (previously $35,000–$40,000 a year) into a multi-year fund intended to accumulate roughly $100,000 so the county can finance ambulance replacements and remounts over time.

County officials acknowledged the purchases and asked staff to identify an appropriate fund source to cover the small reimbursements and the expected $2,000 in stretcher maintenance. A commissioner said the department should present a formal additional-appropriation request to be routed to the council for approval. No formal appropriation vote was taken at the meeting; commissioners directed staff to find funding and report back.

Why it matters: Ambulance operations rely on small, durable medical devices and scheduled preventive maintenance to keep vehicles in service. The county's reallocation of equipment funding changed the accounting from annual expendable equipment dollars to a longer-term reserve, producing a short-term gap for routine replacements and service that the EMS director asked the county to fill.