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Haywood County leaders say rising ambulance costs are prompting repeated use of fund balance
Summary
County officials discussed a recurring post‑COVID trend of appropriating fund balance to cover emergency medical services as costs climb; staff were asked to provide detailed figures and options for sustaining ambulance readiness.
Committee member said county leaders are seeing a recurring trend of higher emergency medical services costs that has required using reserve funds. "This seems to be the trend the past few years, probably since COVID. We've had to annually appropriate some fund balance for for these," the committee member said, prompting staff to be asked for a detailed accounting of options and impacts.
An agency official responding on operations described steady increases in demand and costs. "We're busier every year. Costs continue to grow. And, we try to conserve as much as we can. But at the end of the day, we have to keep ambulances stocked and ready to ready to go," the official said. There was no formal motion or vote on funding recorded in the transcript; officials indicated follow‑up with fiscal details would be provided by staff (referred to in the discussion as "Travis").
