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Supervisors discuss EMS tax options, volunteer shortages and capital needs
Summary
Emergency services staff briefed the board on mutual-aid coordination, dispatch GIS work and grant awards; discussion focused on an EMS tax as a revenue option, volunteer shortages, ambulance and fire-truck costs, and timelines for budget decisions.
Emergency services chief Mister Hyde updated the board on regional coordination, GIS integration for dispatch, and recent grant awards, and he and supervisors discussed local options to finance EMS and fire operations.
"The state of Virginia allows you to do an EMS and a fire," Mister Hyde said while describing revenue models used by neighboring localities, and he cited Prince Edward and Orange as local examples. Hyde also reported that one locality brought in about $360,000 a year from an EMS tax and described how fund structures could support ambulances, vehicles and contingency funds.
Board members pressed staff for timeline information and for projections showing how an EMS or fire tax revenue stream would be earmarked for personnel, apparatus and radio systems. Hyde and staff said a detailed recommendation and a one-page summary of applicable state code will be circulated to board members ahead of budget deliberations.
Provenance: Emergency-services presentation and extended discussion of EMS tax and staffing (topicintro: SEG 904; topfinish: SEG 1299).
