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Warrington supervisors weigh a larger ambulance payment and incentives for volunteer firefighters
Summary
Warrington staff reported a letter from Warrington Ambulance requesting a $175,000 increase to its annual payment; board members asked for detailed cost breakdowns and staff proposed modest increases to volunteer incentive and uniform stipends to support staffing retention.
Warrington supervisors discussed emergency services funding and volunteer incentives at the Sept. 23 budget workshop.
Angela (speaker 4) told the board that Warrington Ambulance submitted a funding request larger than staff expected: while staff had anticipated a potential increase of about $50,000, the ambulance’s letter requested an additional $175,000. "If the board is inclined to provide an increase...perhaps doing the $50,000 or even the $85,000..." Angela said as staff laid out options; the letter itself proposes a larger figure when adjusted for conservative inflation estimates in the ambulance’s math.
Staff proposed dedicating the $52 local services tax (LST) revenue to the EMS fund going forward to improve bookkeeping and to begin building a reserve; they also proposed increasing the volunteer incentive program from a structure that pays 1 point = $7 to 1 point = $10 and raising the uniform stipend from $4,000 to $5,000. Those changes would add roughly $30,000–$35,000 to the EMS budget and could be phased if the board prefers.
Board members asked for a detailed accounting of how the ambulance would use additional funds and expressed interest in exploring options to stabilize ambulance staffing across Bucks County. One supervisor noted the national CPI understates medical-cost inflation and urged the board to consider medical-cost pressures when assessing the ambulance request.
What’s next: staff will request a detailed budget from Warrington Ambulance, provide further analysis on dedicating the LST to EMS, and model scenarios for partial or phased increases to the ambulance payment and volunteer incentives before the board takes a formal funding vote.
