Friday, Oct. 10, 2008

Ambulance service levy, bond on West Richland ballot

By Paula Horton, Herald staff writer

West Richland residents are going to the polls to decide if they want to pay more property taxes for faster ambulance service.

Benton Fire District 4 commissioners are asking residents to approve a six-year EMS levy and an 18-year, $3 million bond issue to hire staff and purchase equipment to run its own ambulance service.

"We've been planning this for three years, but we want our citizens to make the decision," Chief Mike Spring said.

The levy will cost 50 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, or $75 for the owner of a $150,000 home.

The bond issue costs 24 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, or $36 for the owner a $150,000 home.

If both the EMS levy and bond issue are approved, a homeowner will pay $111 a year, or $9.25 more a month.

Residents currently pay $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed value for fire services.

"Our overriding concern for seniors was that (the new tax) was less than $10 more a month," Spring said.

Fire district officials started looking into the costs of running its own ambulance service about four years ago after citizens asked why they had to rely on ambulances from Richland Fire Department and Benton Fire District 2 in Benton City, Spring said.

Officials had surveys and public meetings asking citizens what they wanted, giving them options ranging from doing nothing to raising taxes with an EMS levy and bond.

The support was overwhelmingly in favor of both the levy and bond, officials said.

"We kept saying, 'Do you realize what it costs?' " said A.J. Hill, a Fire District 4 commissioner. "I kept saying, 'It's a new tax,' and people kept saying, 'No, it's an essential tax.' "

The district currently responds to medical emergencies, but doesn't run an ambulance. That means if someone needs to go to the hospital, an ambulance is called from Richland or Benton City.

Citizens will see quicker response times if the district has its own ambulances, Spring said.

It takes Richland an average of about 9 minutes, 41 seconds to respond to calls in West Richland. It's about 15 minutes for Benton City.

If the ambulances are based in West Richland, response times would average 5 minutes or less about 90 percent of the time, Spring said.

Extra minutes spent waiting for medical help can cost lives, he said. Studies show that the ability to survive a cardiac arrest decreases by 10 percent for each minute medical care is delayed, he said.

Residents also will see faster fire responses if the EMS levy passes because the paramedics who will be hired will be cross-trained as firefighters.

"Right now we only have two people on duty 24/7 covering 55 square miles," Spring said. "A fire doubles in size every minute. (If the levy passes) we would double that and have four people on duty."

Six firefighters/paramedics will be hired through the levy. The bond would pay for two ambulances and additions to both stations to house the rigs.

If West Richland runs its own service, it would free up Richland and Benton City, which already are busy responding to their own calls. It also adds more ambulances in the county that can respond to a major medical event, Spring said.

In addition to quicker response times, West Richland residents should also save money with the fire district providing ambulance services.

Currently, residents get billed about $1,200 if they are taken to the hospital by Richland or Benton City ambulances. But fire district commissioners say they don't plan to send an ambulance bill to residents for any costs not covered by insurance.

"Citizens are telling us this is what they want," Hill said. "I'm personally not in favor of new taxes, but if the people are telling me they want it ..."

Voters can decide to approve both the levy and bond, or just the levy. Both tax issues need a supermajority approval to pass.

If both are approved, the fire district plans to have the ambulance service running in 12 to 18 months, Spring said.

If only the levy is approved, the ambulance service will be phased in over five years because they'll need to use some of the money generated from the levy to pay for the equipment and station upgrades.