Regional EMS district idea floated to city leaders

With emergency medical services, such as ambulance services, being desired everywhere in the Coulee, it’s important to have a successful EMS system in place, city leaders heard last week.

Nic Alexander, who serves as assistant fire chief to Chief Ryan Fish for the Grand Coulee Volunteer Fire Department and the Grand Coulee Ambulance, spoke at the city’s Aug. 23 council meeting.

“We need to be ready for the future,” he said.

Alexander noted forming an EMS tax district is just one option for providing support to the service that is currently lightly staffed with semi-volunteers, most of whom don’t regularly go out in the ambulance. 

He said he just wanted to get the conversation going on the topic. Such a district could collect property tax money from those living within the already-existing boundaries of the city’s current service.

The EMS boundaries reach from Leahy Junction to about halfway to Wilbur on SR-174, and from the Million Dollar Mile to the Belvedere area on SR-155.

Alexander presented estimates for what a taxing district could bring in, noting that, with an approximate district property valuation of $350 million, a levied tax of 50 cents per $1,000 of property valuation, comparable to the rate of similar districts outside the Coulee area, would bring in roughly $175,000 a year on top of what the city budgets for it, which was $106,000 for 2022.

If voters passed such a levy, someone with a $100,000 piece of property would pay $50 a year to a district.

The additional money could help pay for a full-time ambulance director. Current Ambulance Director Rick Paris is currently performing that duty as an unpaid volunteer. 

Additional money put into an EMS budget could also help entice EMS workers to participate more. They currently make $17 per hour only when transporting a patient to the hospital. It was noted at the meeting that a large portion of EMS work is done by a small number of EMS workers.

“If they go to a call for a lift assist, there is no charge and no one is paid,” City Clerk Lorna Pearce clarified for The Star.

Additional funding could potentially be gleaned from other cities benefiting from the EMS service, including Electric City, Coulee Dam, Elmer City and beyond, with Grand Coulee being the only one of those with its own ambulance service.

One thing discussed at the meeting was Grant County “Proposition 1” money that goes toward “public safety,” but with some question as to whether that money is meant for law enforcement specifically, and if it could be applied to EMS.

Another point of discussion was the possibility of including fire services in the formation of an EMS district.

“If we’re going to try and do this, why would we not try to do this under the same purview?” Mayor Paul Townsend asked.

The group then discussed that it could be complicated trying to combine multiple fire departments and to get them all in agreement.

Townsend said it was smart to see how much support there was for the idea, and who was on board. He compared it to the idea of consolidating local towns which has, as of yet, not built up enough momentum to happen.

Alexander said he plans to talk with Electric City’s council about the idea in the near future.

Raising EMS ambulance rates is another way to generate more revenue for the system, with rates currently being described as low.

Contracting with American Medical Response, or another ambulance service, is another option, but that could involve removing some of the local influence out of the service. Alexander noted that currently Grand Coulee Ambulance will stand by at rodeos or school football games for free, something AMR would charge for.

The group was in general agreement with Alexander’s point that securing more EMS funding was a discussion worth pursuing, with many details to still be sorted out.