Chris Patterson
The Frederick County Board of County Commissioners voted Tuesday to provide
full-time career emergency medical technicians in the Emmitsburg region and
create a new fire and rescue tax district to pay for it.
Property owners in the new district will begin paying 13.5 cents per $100 of
assessed property value for the enhanced emergency services beginning Jan. 1.
For that increase, the community will receive two career emergency service
workers 24 hours per day, seven days per week.
Both the Emmitsburg Ambulance Company and the Vigilant Hose Company, the
community's fire service, will continue as separate and independent
emergency-service organizations.
In an agreement forged between the two companies on Nov. 21, the ambulance
company agreed to support the request for full-time staffers.
Originally, the ambulance company's leadership fought only to receive
part-time support, contending that changes in their management would yield
improved service results.
A failed service call by Frederick County standards is one in which the
company does not respond within eight minutes of receiving the call. A 10
percent failure rate is the maximum allowed.
Records reported by the ambulance company indicated it was failing its
service standards in about 1 of 3 calls through the first half of the year.
Because of the dramatic fail rate, the fire company argued full-time support
was needed and proposed a merger of the two organizations.
The ambulance company strongly opposed that proposal.
Clarence E. "Chip" Jewell, director of the Frederick County Volunteer Fire
and Rescue Services, worked with the two organizations to iron out the
agreement and presented the major points of agreement to the commissioners this
week.
One of the provisions of the agreement is that a council will be created
with representation from each company, the Emmitsburg Board of Commissioners,
and from fire and rescue services.
That council will work together "to help oversee operations and provide
input on emergency services-related issues in the community," according to a
letter Jewell sent to the commissioners detailing the agreement.
The agreement also provides that a non-voting member of each company will
sit on the board of the other company.
Though Vigilant Hose is currently responding first to emergency calls in the
area, the agreement also provides that the ambulance company will respond first
when there is adequate staff manning their station.
The agreement is to run from Jan. 1 until Dec. 31, 2005, or until the
ambulance company's new facility is completed whichever is longest.
County Commissioner John R. Lovell (R) said it was the strong desire
expressed by the community to have full-time service that motivated him to
support establishing the new district.
He said he saw that strong support at the public hearing of the county
commissioners on Nov. 9 in Emmitsburg.
At that time, almost all of the people who spoke favored full-time coverage
in the town.
"It's never a good thing to increase people's taxes," he said, "but it is a
good thing to provide continuing rescue service and safety of life for a
community and not to put them in jeopardy."
County Commission President John "Lennie" Thompson Jr. (R) did not support
the tax because he is concerned that the usual tax rate of 13.5 cents for
full-time services will not support the cost of the services.
At the first county meeting on the matter in September, county senior budget
analyst Mike Gastley told The Gazette that because the area is largely rural,
taxing at the regular rate could leave the county in the hole by more than
$300,000.
He told the commissioners Tuesday that even including revenue from insurance
billing, the shortfall would be about $180,000 per year.
The rate would have to be about 19 or 20 cents for the full-time services to
cover the shortfall, he said.
Commission Vice President Michael L. Cady (R) said he thought the rate could
remain as-is because the revenue from the county's various fire districts
balance out with some districts paying more than is needed and some paying
less.
Emmitsburg would not be the only area not paying for itself, he noted.
Ultimately, Commissioner Jan H. Gardner (D) moved to approve the tax
district; commissioners Cady, Lovell and Bruce L. Reeder (D) voted for it, with
Thompson voting against it.