Ambulance service will cost Little Flock $36,400 more in 2014 than in 2012 as Rogers increases the bill to meet its costs of the service.The town’s struggle to find money for ambulance service is a microcosm of the problem unfolding for Benton County where seven agencies, including Rogers, provide emergency medical services to unincorporated areas. State law states cities can extend ambulance services outside their boundaries, but costs should be born by the patient and their city or county of residence. Both Little Flock and Benton County began paying Rogers for ambulance services in 2010.
The issue for Rogers is manpower, said Rogers Fire Chief Tom Jenkins. Now, when a Rogers ambulance is sent out of the city, it cuts into ambulance availability in Rogers, and city taxpayers essentially foot the bill, Jenkins said. Increased fees proposed to Little Flock and Benton County will pay salaries for medictrained firefighters to serve the wider area.
“We’re just looking at a human resource. We have the ambulances. We have the buildings,” Jenkins said.
The county is incrementally increasing payments to local agencies, paying Rogers $29,257 in 2012 and $24,708 the year before.
For the past two years, Little Flock has paid Rogers $17,281 for ambulance service, but a July request from Rogers upped that agreement to $48,687 to help pay firefighters/medics and $5,000 toward an ambulance replacement fund. The $53,687 price goes into effect in 2014. This year Little Flock will pay half the new agreement, or $26,843.50.
That increase, combined with stagnant census numbers, is a big problem for Little Flock.
Northwest Arkansas grew as a whole in the 2010 Census. The head count crept up for most cities, exploding in Centerton with a 343 percent increase and inching up in Garfield with a 2.4 percent increase. Springtown and Sulphur Springs shrunk by 23 percent.
Little Flock, on paper, stayed exactly the same between the 2000 and 2010 censuses: 2,585.
“I really don’t think it’s right,” said Little Flock Mayor Buddy Blue.
The city sales tax is dedicated to road improvement.
More state money will be available for roads after the November passage of Issue 1, Blue said, and Little Flock officials are considering a special election to divide its sales tax revenue between roads and emergency services. A second ballot item could ask voters to add fire dues to property tax bills. Residents currently receive a postcard reminder to pay dues, Blue said.
Fire dues will increase this year to help pay for fire and emergency medical services. Residential building fees went from $40 to $60 a year and commercial fees went from $100 to $150 annually. The city has budgeted for a $16,600 increase in dues this year which will cover this year’s increase in ambulance fees.
Officials looked at establishing an ambulance service, but it would cost far more than what they pay Rogers, Blue said.
Similar financial impacts are being felt at the county level. Administrators are evaluating how much they must pay for emergency medical services and how to pay for it.
Ambulance service in unincorporated areas of Benton County is provided by seven different ambulance services, said Marshal Watson, public safety administrator. Rogers ambulances take some calls, but Bella Vista, Bentonville, Gravette, Springdale, Northeast Benton County Fire Department, Pea Ridge and Siloam Springs also pick up patients in rural areas.
The Benton County Quorum Court budgeted $300,000 for the seven ambulance services, twice what it paid out in 2012. The county is incrementally stepping up what it pays while looking for an equitable level, Watson said. Numbers for 2014 will be set during the next budget cycle.
People expect an ambulance when they call 911, Watson said. Technically, county government is not responsible to provide emergency medical services, but officials have no plans to discontinue it.