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Residents press supervisors on ambulance insurance, tax relief and employee bonuses
Summary
Multiple public commenters urged the board to reconsider how insurance proceeds and ARPA/other revenue are used, asked for tax relief for residents, and questioned employee bonuses while services face cuts; the board directed staff to follow up on insurance and licensing questions.
Several members of the public used the meeting’s public‑comment period to press the board on practical fiscal and operational concerns.
Martin Konkle asked whether an insurance check for a wrecked ambulance could be retained by the county to offset the $60,000 cost of a recently purchased used ambulance or be applied toward purchasing a county‑owned replacement rather than given directly to the volunteer EMS squad. He said the county needs stronger control of vehicle assets and suggested using that insurance recovery toward county‑owned equipment.
The chair responded that staff would follow up after the meeting. Mr. Konkle also urged the board to seek tax relief for residents (for example on personal property) rather than spending on items he called low‑priority CIP items such as batting cages.
Bob Sestrack raised a separate point about a proposed 1.5% employee bonus included in the FY26 package: he said it was unfair to cut services while paying bonuses and questioned whether bonuses should be funded if taxes would increase via a meals tax. School and county finance staff later explained the local portion of the bonus would be limited and partly covered by state funds and vacancy savings.
A resident who identified himself as Andy criticized a board member’s handling of budget questions at a recent town hall and said the public deserves clearer leadership and accountability.
Board response: supervisors asked staff to look into the ambulance insurance disposition and to provide information to the inquirer after the meeting. County finance staff addressed bonus funding questions during the finance presentation, providing an estimated local cost of about $47,000 for a 1.5% bonus and noting that some of that cost would be offset by state funding and vacancy savings.
What happens next: staff will follow up with Mr. Konkle about the ambulance insurance question and finance staff will provide more detailed departmental bonus breakdowns at the upcoming budget workshop.
