BOCC approves Ambulance District budget

WALLACE – Few changes are in store for the Shoshone County Ambulance Service District 2022/2023 budget compared to the previous year.

Reviewed and approved by the Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday, the fairly new ambulance district is set to have $1,371,036.72 allocated to cover its yearly expenses. This amount is $9,597.30 lower than the 2021/2022 expense total of $1,380,634.

Bruce Van Broeke, Chair of the SCASD board, explained that the most notable changes to the new budget included pay raises and an expense for a new ambulance.

“We’re looking at new contracts with the Fire Districts for raises…and we're looking at updating a couple vehicles in the next year or so.”

SCASD was formed in June 2020, following the discovery that the former Shoshone EMS Corp. was not financially capable of carrying out the duties that they were tasked with — this prompting the county to use funds to keep them afloat while a new solution was figured out.

While the district is responsible for handling the county’s EMS programs, contracts, and fiscal needs, the actual personnel manning the ambulances consists of members from Shoshone County Fire Districts 1 and 2. As such, SCASD does not directly pay ambulance workers, such as EMT’s and paramedics, but instead reimburses the districts. Both SCFD No. 1 and 2 are in the final stages of labor negotiations with their respective unions. The 2022/2023 budget has a combined $644,415.55 allocated for ambulance personnel from both districts. This figure was based on expected pay raises for EMT’s and paramedics.

“We’re trying to make the valley better by getting more paramedics,” Van Broeke said. “Maybe we can pay them enough to keep them here.”

The only other new expenditure compared to the previous year is $260,000 allocated for a new ambulance.

“We’re getting up on the miles and years on ours for liability,” Van Broeke said. “The goal is we try to rotate every other year and get a new ambulance. It’s just for reliability. Right now, we’re sitting for five years since we’ve had a new one.”

Van Broeke added that when comparing call numbers and expenses with the previous Shoshone EMS Corp., the amounts have been nearly identical.

“With the corporation’s experience and the experience of budgeting from Jerry (Brantz), I think that we’re going to be good.”

While a small amount of the SCASD budget comes from grants, most comes from the tax dollars of Shoshone County residents.