Washington County executive outlines multi‑million dollar fire and EMS challenge, previews task force briefing

Washington County Executive Josh Shoman said the county is confronting growing demand for fire and emergency medical services and previewed a briefing the county public safety committee will hear from Chief Public Safety Officer Dave Sager.

Shoman said the county convened a task force after a study by "a national firm" (the firm was not named in the transcript) and that the group has spent months developing options to preserve services while reducing long‑term taxpayer costs. "We've seen about a 50% increase in calls," he said, referring to the last 10 years, and added the county expects another 50% to 100% increase in roughly the next decade.

The task force, Shoman said, has five central goals: mitigate long‑term taxpayer cost, expand volunteer and paid on‑call staffing, preserve satisfactory EMS levels across all parts of Washington County (noting some communities are full‑time while others are volunteer), relieve municipal fiscal pressure while preserving local control, and provide fiscally sustainable delivery methods.

Shoman outlined local risks the county is trying to head off: volunteers are aging and numbers are declining, and some municipalities face the prospect of ballot referendums to raise funding for services. He named Hartford as a jurisdiction "looking down the barrel of the possibility of a big referendum" and cited recent referendums in Richfield and Germantown as examples. Based on data from municipal partners and fire departments, Shoman said "8 of our 13 departments and their respective communities may also see a referendum" within five years.

On projected costs, Shoman attributed estimates to municipal partners and local departments: "In the next 5 years, we can expect somewhere between a 7 and $10,000,000 increase in expenses if we just keep on the same path. In the next 10 years, it could be as much as $20,000,000." He characterized those figures as scenario projections rather than final budget decisions.

Shoman said the public safety committee briefing by Chief Public Safety Officer Dave Sager is the first formal step in a multi‑month process; he urged residents to follow the committee and to speak with local elected officials about potential options. "The answers aren't gonna be easy, but the only way we're gonna be able to do it is by doing it together," he said.

The county did not provide the study firm's name, formal budget line items, or a timeline for any proposed referendums in the transcript. The public safety committee briefing referenced in the recording was described as occurring "tomorrow" in the episode, but the broadcast did not give a calendar date; details are expected to appear in committee materials and local news coverage.