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Lancaster County Council narrows budget gap after live edits; EMS schedule change and staffing top debate
Summary
Council worked through a live budget spreadsheet to close a roughly $2.4 million gap, debating reallocating ARPA funds, adding EMS positions to support a 24/72 schedule and converting a Veterans Affairs receptionist to full time. Staff said precise staffing costs will be supplied to council as soon as they are available.
Lancaster County Council spent its session reworking the draft operating budget, applying live edits that staff said produced roughly $2.4 million in available funds and $2.2 million in requested add‑backs.
Jamie (staff member) walked council through a spreadsheet that showed those adjustments and said the county would save both the original and the live-edited documents for FOIA purposes. "So the add backs would be a total of 2,200,000, which leaves available the $175,000," Jamie said during the presentation.
The most consequential personnel debate centered on emergency medical services. EMS leadership and county staff outlined a proposed move to a 24/72 schedule that, to be fair countywide, would require increasing paramedic staffing from five to seven and EMT staffing from four to six. Staff estimated an all‑in annual cost around $138,000 for a paramedic and about $100,000 for an EMT, and promised to provide finalized figures quickly. "We should be able to get it to you as soon as tomorrow," one staff member said about the updated line‑item estimates.
Council also discussed using leftover ARPA money tied to an earlier homeless shelter project. Staff said they are working with the United Way to close that project and, if funds are recovered, reassign them to approved projects such as evidence storage or coroner needs. A council member asked about the programmatic deadline; staff confirmed the county must spend or reprogram certain ARPA funds by the end of the calendar year.
Other personnel items included converting the Veterans Affairs receptionist from part time to full time using existing part‑time salary dollars plus benefits. Jamie said the full‑time total would be $63,850 after adding fringe costs. Council also tentatively agreed to increase recurring Council on Aging funding by $100,000 to a $200,000 allocation for FY27 to preserve a federally funded program that requires local match.
Council did not adopt final appropriations at this meeting; staff said the council will see a final iteration at third reading and a second public hearing. The meeting ended with staff confirming follow-up numbers and next steps for the next hearing.
