Bradley County EMS seeks $2 million increase to raise pay, add vans and buy ambulance

Director Adam Lewis told the Bradley County EMS committee on May 14 that his department will submit a FY 2026–27 budget request to the mayor that would raise starting pay, add two convalescent vans and buy a new ambulance.

The proposal, Lewis said, includes a pay-plan change to raise starting pay to the level of a nearby peer county, a 1% step raise, two convalescent vans with equipment, one ALS ambulance and staff to operate them. Lewis said the full package would increase EMS operating costs by roughly $2 million year over year but that some items might be shifted to other funds to reduce the net general-fund impact.

Why it matters: The request aims to address higher per-truck call volumes in Bradley County and to reduce reliance on overtime and part-time staffing. Lewis said Bradley EMS runs about 28,000 calls (including transfers) with an average of roughly four trucks on duty, and argued that raising pay and adding vehicles will help retain staff and capture additional revenue from non-emergency transfers.

Lewis summarized the largest line items and their estimated first-year costs: a Lifepack 35 monitor lease ($123,500); an additional amount listed in the transcript as “325” to fully fund a training captain position (the transcript did not specify units for that figure); a pay increase package Lewis estimated at $487,234 for year one; two convalescent vans and equipment (~$610,000); four full-time positions to staff the vans (~$300,000); a new ALS ambulance and equipment (~$425,000); and ancillary increases for insurance and license fees (~$97,000). “This pay proposal…represents an increase cost of $487,234 in year one,” Lewis said during the presentation.

On staffing and operations, Lewis said adding an additional staffed 911 ambulance typically requires hiring about eight full-time employees to cover shifts; part-time staff and overtime have been used to staff extra trucks in the short term. He described convalescent vans as more profitable for transfers and non-emergency calls and said they also would free 911 ambulances for emergency responses. Lewis said convalescent vans could respond to 911 calls if appropriately staffed — for example, with a basic EMT on board — but that different staffing models limit what transfer types a van can accept.

Commissioner support and tax questions

Commissioner Thompson voiced strong support for the EMS request, saying the county is growing and needs to ‘‘grow with it’’ and that the service has been ‘‘practically self-supported’’ in recent years. Commissioner Blake said the service was moving closer to breaking even, saying, “I think we're 1.44 million under or away from being quote self- sustaining,” a figure he offered in discussion.

Committee members pressed staff on tax impacts in ‘‘pennies’’ — the commissioners’ shorthand for how much property tax rates would change. Lewis said that under the current value of the county’s penny (about $476,000), the full $2 million package would represent slightly over a 4-cent property-tax increase; with the proposed offsets Lewis estimated the net new general-fund request could be closer to 1.75 cents. Commissioners requested formal calculations from the finance department before any vote.

Possible offsets and next steps

Lewis outlined potential offsets the finance committee and mayor could consider: paying the monitor lease from opioid funds, eliminating a longstanding longevity bonus (about $25,000) and using the county’s 189 capital fund as a short-term loan to buy vans with the intention of repaying that account from new van-generated revenue. Lewis said those shifts could reduce the net general-fund increase from about $2 million to roughly $722,000, but emphasized those moves would require decisions by the mayor, finance committee and possibly the county attorney.

Lewis also confirmed an ALS ambulance already ordered at an estimated cost of $425,000 ($250,000 for the vehicle and $175,000 for equipment), with delivery expected in October.

The committee heard the presentation, asked clarifying questions about staffing, overtime and revenue assumptions, received no public comment and moved toward forwarding the request to finance for detailed tax and funding analysis. No formal vote on the budget request was taken at this meeting.