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BOAC IGA update: council hears proposed county contribution and ambulance service concerns
Summary
Steph updated the council on the BOAC 9-1-1 IGA, saying a user-board-approved cost allocation would have added roughly $2.4 million to county costs, while Portland's proposed budget currently shows a $1,000,000 county contribution; the discussion also cited a county report that characterized AMR as primarily a transport service.
Steph, presenting a Bureau of Emergency Communications (BOAC) update, told the Wood Village City Council that the user board had approved a new cost-allocation methodology (voted in October 2025) intended to shift more of certain costs to the county and other users. Steph said the methodology would have increased Multnomah County’s share by about $2.4 million, but Portland’s city administrator proposed the county pay $1,000,000 in the next budget instead of the full methodology amount.
Steph summarized the workload split and cost drivers: "We went through a whole process to figure out an appropriate allocation between the 2 functions that 9-1-1 does, answering the phones and doing the dispatch... For EMS, that came to about 7% of the overall budget for BOAC... the 3-year average was close to a 100,000 calls, out of 600,000 calls for service." The proposed county contribution and timing mean the IGA update faces continued negotiation and possible delay before any July 1 implementation.
Councilors also discussed an ambulance-services assessment that described AMR as focused on transport. A councilor clarified that the county’s commissioned report—not AMR itself—characterized the service as primarily transport; staff said AMR regional directors present different operational options but county standards and contract terms shape local practice. Councilors welcomed the movement toward increased county contributions but requested written budget language before relying on it for BOAC implementation.
Council asked staff to continue negotiations with the user board and county to finalize allocation methodology and to engage AMR and other stakeholders on ambulance response and RFP timing.
