Finger Lakes town requests ambulance proposals

1956 Cadillac

Last week we advised Finger Lakes municipalities to embrace privatization of services, citing the Villlage of Minoa's plan to get out of the ambulance business.  Today the Ithaca Journal reports that the Town of Ulysses is requesting proposals from private sector EMS providers.

Ambulance service in the rural Town of Ulysses has long been provided under contract by the tiny Village of Trumansburg's volunteer squad.  As more demanding lifestyles made volunteer EMT staff harder to find, Trumansburg hired professional staff to provide 24-hour coverage.  

As goverment employees, the paid EMT crew quickly became very expensive and difficult for part time village officials to manage.  The volunteer service did not charge patients, adding to the financial stress.  When it was realized that many patients' heath insurance would pay for ambulance rides, a suggestion was made to begin billing for services.  This led to a protracted battle between  officials trying to deal with massive costs and local leftists who view free EMS service as the first step toward 100% government provided health care.

After years of debate and legal fees, Ulysses Town Board member Kevin Romer is leading an effort to consider privatization:

The town board will send out a request for proposals to provide ambulance and emergency medical service to ambulance providers to get a clearer picture of what the disparity in annual costs is between the Village of Trumansburg's EMS service and commercial providers such as Bangs Ambulance...

At the board meeting Tuesday night, board member Kevin Romer said the request for proposals is for comments only and to allow EMS providers to give feedback about their expectations of ambulance service. Romer said the village has so far been uninterested in privatizing, even if it would save money.

"All this is just to get information on what it would cost (for a private company to provide ambulance service in town)," Romer said.

Romer said Bangs Ambulance gave him an unofficial rough estimate of $243,000 annually for providing ambulance service based in the village, while the village's total EMS budget hovers around $450,000, he said.

Romer said he's frustrated by how little progress has been made on the issue since he became involved. He said the EMS Task Force, a joint-municipal committee formed to solve the issue, hasn't even met in five months, although it does have a meeting scheduled this month. (bold added)

Many (but apparently not all) Finger Lakes taxpayers are struggling to keep their homes in the face of some of the highest property taxes in the country.  Yet even as those taxes increase every year, our local governments are reluctant to consider new ideas for providing basic services.  Part of the problem is that busy families are often unable to keep up with these issues, only to be shocked yet again when they open their tax bills.  This blog intends to raise awareness.  Please discuss with your neighbors.