2nd Alarmers urges township to consider 0.25‑mill EMS tax as staffing crisis worsens

Assistant Chief Ken Davidson, representing the 2nd Alarmers Association and Rescue Squad, told the Public Health & Safety Committee that local ambulance providers are operating under sustained staffing and funding pressures and asked municipalities to consider stable local funding.

"The system is broken," Davidson said during a lengthy July 20 presentation, summarizing five years of increasing call volumes, fewer new entrants to EMS and recurring hours when units are downgraded to basic life support. He described options for municipalities — a dedicated EMS tax, municipal provision of EMS, contracting with other agencies, or forming an authority — and recommended a 0.25‑mill tax that he estimated would generate approximately $384,000 for the 2027 budget in Upper Moreland.

Davidson provided cost context: start‑up for a municipal EMS sized for Upper Moreland would be substantial (he estimated about $3,500,000) with ongoing operating costs in the neighborhood of $2,000,000, while current EMS personnel pay ranges he cited were roughly $47,000–$71,000 for EMTs and $55,000–$91,000 for paramedics. He also described how current reimbursement practices (insurers sending payments to patients rather than agencies) and reduced Medicare/insurance reimbursement compound the shortfall.

Commissioners asked about the "cost of readiness" (staff and equipment paid to be available even when not transporting a patient) and about state legislative fixes. Davidson said two bills discussed in his presentation — referenced in the transcript as HB 1152 and SB 1342 — would establish a statewide EMS fee schedule and require insurers to pay EMS agencies directly, preventing balance‑billing, but he emphasized those bills do not cover the local readiness costs municipalities are being asked to address.