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Boyne City tables forgiveness of EMS shortfalls, adopts interim expense-allocation formula
Summary
Faced with multi-year ambulance-billing shortfalls and township resistance to retroactive assessments, the commission tabled a staff request to forgive prior-year shortfalls and instead approved an interim expense-allocation formula that sets the city's portion at 51% and allocates the remainder to townships based on usage.
The Boyne City Commission spent its longest discussion of the evening on a long-running ambulance (EMS) funding problem and voted March 9 to table a staff request to forgive multi-year assessment shortfalls while approving an interim expense-allocation formula for budgeting and contract negotiations.
EMS leadership and staff described invoicing and collection problems dating to fiscal years 2022–2024 and said participating townships have since agreed to bring current on recent assessments but asked the city to forgive prior shortfall assessments that the townships said they could not retroactively include in prior-year budgets. Staff cited a requested forgiveness figure of roughly $337,645.50 (excluding one township’s pending number) and said total outstanding commitments discussed at the meeting approached $768,710.45.
Public commenters reacted strongly against writing off prior debts, arguing such forgiveness would shift those past costs to Boyne City taxpayers and set a risky precedent. One resident told the commission, “writing this debt off isn’t the answer… this is a $1.8 million swing on the back of the taxpayer” when combined with planned EMS budget increases.
After extensive deliberation — including multiple commissioners requesting legal guidance, a clearer accounting of outstanding amounts and an independent assessment of collection options — the commission voted to table the forgiveness request and asked staff to obtain a formal legal analysis and provide additional documentation and options for collection or settlement. Separately, commissioners approved an interim expense-allocation formula to use for the upcoming budget and as the framework for drafting a new memorandum of understanding. The formula sets Boyne City’s flat share at 51% and divides the remaining 49% among townships based on service usage (call counts). Staff said the formula is intended as an interim solution while a longer-term funding approach is developed.
Why it matters: The city currently operates an EMS service heavily used by nearby townships. How the cost of that service is allocated affects municipal budgets, tax rates and intergovernmental relationships; debate over writing off back balances raised strong public concern about fiscal fairness.
Next steps: The commission directed staff to (1) seek written guidance from the city attorney on legal options to recover past amounts, (2) provide a full accounting of outstanding balances (including the missing township figure), (3) draft a memorandum of understanding that incorporates the interim allocation formula and (4) return to the commission with options prior to any debt forgiveness.
