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Commissioners create Ambulance Service
District |
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March 21, 2012 |
About 40 people gathered in the main courtroom
at the Boundary County Courthouse Tuesday
evening as county commissioners re-convened
public hearing to consider the formation of a
county-wide ambulance taxing district, which, by
a vote of two to one, was approved.
While no additional public testimony was taken
at the hearing, having received numerous letters
and having heard considerable testimony when the
meeting was initially convened February 28 (to
read details of that hearing,
click here), commissioners did
explain their positions.
"We heard a lot of comment, a slight majority of
which was against forming a district," chairman
Ron Smith said. "As a county commission, we are
responsible to provide ambulance service. We
received a request from Boundary Volunteer
Ambulance with enough signatures to require that
we consider this.
It was apparent, he said, that while not
everyone favored creating a taxing district,
nearly everyone supported Boundary Volunteer
Ambulance, and he said it was clear that they
needed help. He recommended creating a taxing
district, to show the county's support, but not
immediately funding it.
"By Idaho Code, we have 15 months from the time
the district is created to determine the
funding," Smith said. "Over the next 15 months,
I propose we work with the BVA Board and EMTs,
hospital staff to take a close look at all the
issues and determine exactly what we need and
what it will cost. We might find out that
there's a way to give the ambulance association
what it needs without the need for a district,
and if that's the case, we can call a public
hearing and abandon the taxing district."
Commissioner Dan Dinning agreed that BVA needs
help, but said it was a complex issue that
commissioners didn't yet know enough about.
"We have a lot to learn to develop a plan," he
said. "The majority of comments were not opposed
to improving the ambulance service, but
accountability was a key issue."
He said he was not in favor of forming a taxing
district now, "not until we have a plan we can
present," he said. "I'm not against a district,
but to me, this is like going to a banker,
signing all the mortgage papers, and then
leaving it up to the banker to fill in the
numbers."
His proposal was to hold off on forming a taxing
district, forming a committee to look into
exactly what will be needed, putting the
information out to the public and only then
making the decision to form a taxing district,
if needed.
Commissioner Walt Kirby said both approaches
were valid, but that he was convinced that the
county needed to help the ambulance association.
"Boundary Voluneer Ambulance does an excellent
job and I support them 100-percent," he said.
"I'm inclined to go along with the chairman. The
state says we have to have an ambulance service,
and the only way we can assure that is to form
an ambulance taxing district. But we need to
approach it gently to ensure we are making the
best use of taxpayer money before we set a levy
amount. Right now, we don't know where we are or
where we're going, and we need to assess the
needs and determine how best to do it. Doing
this now casts the die, and assure's were going
to do something in a reasonable amount of time."
Under Idaho Code, counties are obligated to
assure that ambulance service is available to
its citizens, but there are a number of ways
counties can do that. Currently, the county
gives BVA $8,000 annually, and could, without
forming a taxing district, increase that amount
to not more than .02-percent of property value.
With a formal taxing district, the maximum that
could be assessed is .04-percent.
At the end, Kirby made motion to form a
county-wide ambulance taxing district without
establishing a levy amount, Smith stepped down
and seconded, and the motion carried. |
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