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Commissioners add $300,000 placeholder for ambulance replacement while staff seeks bids
Summary
County staff recommended adding $300,000 to the fixed-assets line to cover ambulance reboxing or replacement; commissioners and EMS representatives discussed repair costs, staffing impacts and storage needs for ambulances.
At a preliminary budget hearing, county staff pressed commissioners to add a placeholder of $300,000 for ambulance equipment while the county prepares to solicit bids. "I would say about 300 some thousand dollars is probably the safe bet," said Mike, the staff member handling the budget line, and he told the board he would "go ahead and add $300,000" to object 940 for ambulance service equipment.
EMS representatives explained reboxing—refurbishing the ambulance box on an existing chassis—is costly but typically less than buying a new unit from scratch. Staff discussed supplies and fuel pressures driving increased operating costs, and requested two additional garage bays to keep vehicles indoors. Commissioners instructed staff to move the placeholder into the capital projects fund and return with bid results and a formal recommendation on whether to rebox or purchase new units.
Next steps: staff will issue a request for proposals and return with votes or more refined cost estimates at a subsequent meeting.
