Commission approves EMS training contracts after debate over fire fund fairness

The Shelby County Commission approved two resolutions (Items 19 and 20) authorizing up to $100,000 each from the fire services enterprise fund to purchase emergency medical services education and training from Dyersburg State Community College and Southwest Tennessee Community College. Both measures passed after floor debate: Item 19 passed 10-1 and Item 20 passed 9-1-1 (one abstention).

Commissioner Erica Sugarman pushed back on the choice of funding source, saying unincorporated-area firefighters were being shortchanged compared with municipal departments. "The Germantown Fire Department pays its firefighter paramedics $82,700. In Shelby County, [it] pays its firefighter paramedics $76,000," Sugarman said in floor remarks, arguing that the fire fund should be used to raise salaries rather than for the training contracts. County Attorney Megan Smith responded to clarify the legal limits on the funding source, saying, "That's correct. The funding source in these resolutions is an enterprise fund ... The general fund is not allowed for the fire service in Shelby County because the Shelby County Fire Department does not service the entire county." The votes followed committee recommendations in favor of the contracts.