Finance director warns ambulance fund balance eroded by large uncollectible receivables; counsel to review contract letter

Richland County Finance Director Liana Pick told the Executive Finance Committee on Oct. 28 that long-standing accounts receivable and mounting write-offs have eroded the ambulance fund and left the service running year-to-date deficits.

"The auditors decided . . . it's about approximately 40% of our receivables are uncollectible," Pick said, explaining an allowance for doubtful accounts auditors recorded for older unpaid bills and additional reserves the auditors suggested for 2024. She presented two balance-sheet snapshots (an August report and an Oct. 31 report) and said the allowance and write-offs were the primary driver of a drop in the ambulance fund balance from roughly $297,000 (Aug. snapshot) to about $108,000 (Oct. 31 snapshot).

The finance presentation included an income-statement trend showing average annual billed revenue of roughly $951,000 across recent years and average annual operating expenses near $1 million. Pick said the service's monthly operating cost is about $100,000 and that historic write-offs have averaged a large share of billed revenue, noting the auditors proposed further reserve increases tied to aged receivables.

Public commenter Shirley Welty, who represents Dayton Township on the joint ambulance committee, asked for clearer call data and collection-policy information before the county adopts further contract terms. "There is really a need for much more clarity around that information," Welty said during the public-comment period.

Pick described the county's accounting records and collections as follows: receivables billed by the third-party biller show large patient-responsibility balances; some older receivables (2016–2022) were judged by auditors to be unlikely to be collected and were moved into a reserve; and the county is receiving direct write-offs during the year for more recent invoices. She told the committee she pulled the county's records from the Tyler ERP and earlier systems and committed to provide the underlying billing spreadsheets for further review.

Committee members and staff discussed differences between the county's ERP reports and figures produced by the third-party billing company; Pick said she would reconcile the discrepancies and share the billing company's confidential pivot reports with appropriate staff after the meeting.

On funding and policy options, Pick presented illustrative allocations to municipalities and a hypothetical household fee scenario. Her slides showed a 2026 draft ambulance budget of $1.3 million and stated the county's proposed municipal assessment around $2.45 per capita (figures presented as the finance office's working assumptions for budgeting). Pick said the 2026 budget includes an assumed uncollectible allowance consistent with the auditors' findings.

On governance and next steps, the committee discussed a letter the county received from outside counsel (Boardman Clark / Mike Wendell) and the need for a review by corporate counsel. Committee members agreed Andy Phillips will review the letter and related "informed consent" materials and reach out to the opposing counsel about next steps. The committee directed staff to return the matter to Executive & Finance on Nov. 11 for further consideration and then to the full county board if necessary.

The presentation prompted several requests for follow-up: reconcile billing-company and county ERP figures, supply a clear monthly activity statement derived from Tyler, and provide a more detailed plan for collections and potential municipal funding options (including the per-household scenario).