Fire district panel reviews mill-levy split and three EMS staffing models

The Cache County advisory group spent its meeting weighing how a proposed fire-district mill levy and existing city EMS contract payments would be divided between the Northern and Southern portions of the district, and reviewed three staffing-and-cost models for running emergency medical services under the district.

The Chair said the question of whether the 3.9 levy “automatically disseminates into the Northern District and the Southern Districts” is unresolved and that the fire board will likely divide money according to where it originated. The Chair urged the group to allow “some latitude to figure out how to make this work” and stressed the need to equalize what individual cities pay for EMS before the district takes over responsibility.

Chief George, who presented the expense analysis, outlined three models for EMS operations: Model 1 keeps the current mix (two full-time ambulances, a cross-staffed regional paramedic squad and a paid-on-call ambulance in Wellsville); Model 2 shifts more to paid-on-call crews with a roving paramedic squad and would lower costs by roughly $450,000; Model 3 would put three full-time ambulance crews in the South with a regionalized paramedic model and provide higher, more consistent coverage at greater fixed cost. "The first one is the two full time ambulances with a cross staffed paramedic squad," Chief George said, describing the status-quo option.

Chief George gave staffing and per-ambulance cost estimates and said a predictable replacement schedule for vehicles and equipment — roughly $176,000 annually in the model — would steady capital spending. He also estimated personnel costs for the stations at about $1,461,000 and said that, with current recorded revenues, the system shows a shortfall in the low hundreds of thousands of dollars, but city EMS contract payments (about $475,000 currently) would largely close the gap.

Barry Locke, introduced as a Hyrum EMS representative, described how a county-hybrid model operates in neighboring Weber County: county-purchased transport rigs and high-cost equipment are available across jurisdictions while district fire personnel staff many units. "All personnel are district fire personnel, but the county provides the trucks and some specialized equipment," Barry Locke said, noting that Weber’s system evolved over decades and relies heavily on mutual aid and closest-unit response.

Committee members discussed geography and operational trade-offs: longer transport times from Paradise increase cost per transport; cross-staffing can reinforce fire response but will not fully replace municipal fire apparatus; and some municipalities that currently purchase services may seek funds returned or renegotiated contracts if they do not require district services.

On budgeting and next steps, members noted the county holds about $1,000,000 earmarked for fire capital that should transfer to the district and agreed the easiest near-term path might be to present a proposal to the county that initially keeps the county’s current EMS model in place while the district begins its transition. The group asked staff to prepare a city-by-city breakdown of costs and revenues and set a follow-up meeting for July 27 to select a recommended model for the county council.

Votes at a glance: The committee approved the minutes from the prior meeting (motion made, seconded and carried with 'Aye' votes recorded) and later moved to adjourn; both procedural motions passed as recorded in the transcript.

The committee adjourned after setting the next meeting date and assigning follow-up work to staff and model authors.