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Local EMS director asks county for roughly $200,000 increase; commissioners request audited details
Summary
The county's contracted EMS presenter outlined 2025 revenues and expenditures, citing constraints on billing and significant unreimbursed costs. The EMS leader requested an increase (about $199,000) and moving part‑time staff to full‑time; commissioners asked for audited 2024 and 2025 actuals, year‑to‑date 2026 detail, and line‑item backup before approving additional ad valorem funding.
An EMS leader presented an extended budget overview to the commission, saying the service turned over roughly $600,000 in receipts in 2025 but had expenditures near $655,554 as reported to the Kansas Board of EMS; the presenter requested a county funding increase to cover wages, staffing and rising fuel and supply costs.
"Our total income for 2025 was $277,798.60," the EMS presenter said while reviewing billing and payroll numbers. He explained billing constraints (for example, Lyft assists or patient refusals may be unbillable) and described transfers and insurance offsets that affect net income. He said the service is considering moving two part‑time employees to full‑time and increasing hourly wages to recruit and retain staff, and estimated that a county increase in the $199,000 range would permit staffing and wage improvements.
Commissioners repeatedly requested audited detail: year‑to‑date 2026 figures, full 2024 and 2025 actuals, and a line‑item breakdown that ties the presenter's projections to the figures the county records and the Kansas Department of Administration files. One commissioner asked staff to contact the city clerk/city finance contact (Barry) to request the detailed reports and to reconcile the county appropriation paid to the EMS service with the service's reported receipts and expenditures.
The board did not approve a funding increase at the meeting; commissioners directed the presenter to provide additional documentation for the budget hearings scheduled in late May and June.
