Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Ambulance Service Funding topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Plaistow committee asks town manager to model enterprise account and revolving-fund options for ambulance service
Summary
Committee approved motions asking the town manager to present conceptual models — both an enterprise account and a revolving-fund scenario — for the ambulance service, requesting revenue/expense projections and collection assumptions before further deliberation.
Committee member Speaker 4 moved that the town manager be tasked to conceptually develop an enterprise account for the ambulance service and present the model to the Plaistow Budget Committee; Speaker 6 seconded and the motion was approved with recorded ayes and one abstention.
Speaker 4 framed the request as a presentation for discussion only, saying the goal was to "show what it would look like so that people could have it as sort of a real thing in front of us." Discussion focused on the types of analyses the committee would need: month-by-month revenue projections, expense forecasts, and assumptions about receivables and bad-debt collections. Staff cautioned that existing collection procedures and policy for outstanding receivables were not yet established and that projections would therefore include assumptions about recoverable revenue.
Several members drew an analogy to an 'intercept program' discussed by the Board of Selectmen, but Speaker 5 emphasized the intercept program is "not the same thing as the ambulance service" and said it is funded by donors; staff said that the intercept program would be self-funding in its own enterprise account and would not draw from the town’s capital reserves. Committee members asked the town manager to provide both an enterprise-account model and a mirror revolving-fund scenario so they could compare governance, revenue accounting, and potential taxpayer impacts.
The committee’s motion requires the town manager to return with conceptual models (timelines set for the committee’s next meetings in early January); members requested explicit assumptions the manager will use, including how much revenue is currently captured, how much is statutorily written off (Medicare/Medicaid), and an estimate of collectible receivables. The motion did not commit the town to a policy change; it directed staff to prepare comparative scenarios for committee review.
The committee recorded the motion as approved and adjourned after setting follow-up dates. The town manager’s presentation is expected to include projected year-one revenues and expenses, scenarios for shortfalls, and clear statements of assumptions about collection and bad-debt treatment.
