Ambulance dues increase passed

GARFIELD - A proposed increase in yearly ambulance fees was narrowly approved Tuesday, July 9, by voters in the Northeast Benton County Fire Department’s emergency medical services district, according to unofficial vote totals available Tuesday night.

With all votes counted in the three precincts involved in the special election, the measure passed 298-294. The district requested an increase in ambulance service dues charged to each household in the district from $40 to $100.

“I personally am very pleased that it passed because it insures the future of the service. I’m a bit disappointed that it was so close because that means that everyone doesn’t realize how much we needed it to insure the future of the service,” Kara Funk, chairman of the NEBCO Board of Directors, said. “It’s not free.

We have to pay for it whether it’s part of the county or not.

“It’s been 28 years getting to this point. The time had come to insure the stability of the service.

Trying to do fundraisers to operate the emergency medical service was not good. We’ll continue to have them, but the emphasis will be on the community coming together,” she said.

“I’m very, very grateful for the people who came out and supported us,” Fire/EMS Chief Rob Taylor said.

Officials with the Fire Department, which took over the operation in 2010 from the Volunteer Ambulance Service.

When NEBCO Fire Department took over the operation in 2010 it upgraded the ambulance service from basic life support to advanced life support with no increase in the budget. The need for an increase in fees was anticipated, but the department’s board pledged to wait until it had studied the operation before seeking any increase, Taylor said.

The district has continued to supplement the income from the service with community fundraising events in the interim.

Funk said the increase was earmarked to allow the department to improve pay and benefits for its personnel, helping the department to remain competitive in the local market. The increase was also to upgrade equipment and to build a reserve for capital needs, such as replacing the ambulances as necessary.

NEBCO’s board choose to pursue a fee increase through a special election rather than wait for Benton County to resolve its ongoing problem with paying for ambulance service to rural areas of the county.

Currently NEBCO and seven city fire departments - Bella Vista, Bentonville, Gravette, Pea Ridge, Rogers, Siloam Springs and Springdale - provide ambulance service to the unincorporated areas of the county.

Editor’s note: Tom Sissom contributed to this story.

News, Pages 1 on 07/17/2013