On April 11th, the Jasper County Board met for a special meeting regarding the ambulance service and the possibility of adding a referendum to the June ballot.
The board was presented with several options.
**All of these options are based upon the ambulance service continuing to be county run and operated. **
*** Editor’s note: We understand there is some confusion and misinformation around the county that privatization of the ambulance service was again discussed at this meeting. After reviewing our recording of the meeting, we are confident this is not factual information.***
OPTION A
The County could approve to place the Ambulance Tax Levy Increase Referendum on the June 2022 Primary Ballot. The max rate for the Ambulance Tax Levy is 0.25% an increase of 0.05% over the current rate and this would generate about $100,000 annually in additional revenue.
OPTION B
The County could approve to place on the June ballot a Tax Referendum if the majority of the board wishes to adopt the Public Safety Sales Tax Referendum in place of the prior proposal for the Tax Levy Increase Referendum, we will place that on the ballot. This would mean that a consumer would pay an additional $0.50 in sales tax for every $100 of tangible personal property bought at retail. Based upon the reported numbers from the one percent sales tax the schools received there could be approximately $420,000 in annual revenue that could be used for the ambulance service.
OPTION C
The County could choose to do neither of the above. Instead, the County can take the time between now and the August deadline for the general election.
During the bid proposals, a husband and wife from Crawford County had reached out to either on contract to assist the service and/or manage the service for a fee.
Andrew and Jennifer Hargrave spoke about the services they would offer if contracted or hired. They run United Life Care in Crawford County. They were able to create a profit from the ambulance service. Currently, they run four ambulances. They highly recommended outsourcing the billing for our County. Utilizing an outside company ensures that everything billable is being charged for and all of the rules and regulations in regards to billing are being followed. This service would provide services in collections as well, and for them the service paid for itself. The company charges a percentage of what is collected instead of a flat fee.
Jennifer spoke about what they have found to be important in employee retention. Their company pays for benefits and works with them on their schedules to try to accommodate the employee’s needs. She also during the meeting spoke about working with the schools to cultivate new relationships and employees from within the community.
PUBLIC COMMENTS AND DISCUSSION
Concerns were raised during public comments about putting money towards a department with internal issues that depleted a million dollar reserve. (See the end of the article for more on how this happened and a history of the ambulance department).
Discussion was held about lift assist and charging for this service. The ambulance representative for Jasper County suggested this could be considered fraud, however, with a blanket policy that is the same for every person, this would not be fraud. Jennifer is a certified compliance officer and assured the room that as long as everyone is charged equally there is no fraud.
Tony Trimble spoke about seeing financial corrections being made, however, he was disappointed that the option listed above (option C) was not presented at a discussion held with a few county board representatives, JEDI members, Chamber of Commerce board members, and members from the Farm Bureau board. He spoke that he was unsure if the farm bureau could promote *this*and he does not know what the farm bureau is going to say. The farm bureau does believe in the service and that it is essential. The farm bureau came to help and support.
The farm bureau board president spoke about the Friday meeting. The farm bureau came to change the opinion from a property tax to a sales tax. He feels they would need to go back to their board before they can say they would agree to help pass a tax increase of any kind. He believes the previous State’s Attorney and the board should have gone after the previous management of the ambulance department for fraud.
Chairman Warfel spoke about the fact that the previous management of the ambulance department was aware of the accruement of vacation time which caused the depletion of the reserve and was actually using it as a recruitment tool despite assuring the board that it was a newly discovered item when it came to light. He also believes there is some in house cleanup that needs to be completed before going to the voter with an option.
Darrell Hickox spoke about his belief that the board needs to realize changes need to be made. The previous system worked and when going to the new system they depleted their reserve and are borrowing money. He spoke that Jasper County can’t have a bigger ambulance service than surrounding counties. He stated the ambulance representative stated the City of Newton accounted for around 90% (this number has not been verified) of the calls. He proposed the option of making it a city ambulance department. He also stated the Jasper County ambulance does not come to his house. His 911 calls go to another county due to his location being a closer distance to their county than the center of Jasper County. He also stated the county employees tell the board only what they want the board to know.
Brian Leffler suggested only having one crew on call and stated no one around has two on call. The ambulance representative stated no one around only has only one crew on call.
Mike Geier spoke about two ambulances being called out on Sunday morning, one being a call he made from church for another parishioner. He also spoke that there is a need to fix the internal problem, and neither side is going to get everything they want.
Darrell spoke about mutual aid and how the county could rely on mutual aid to cover while the Jasper County ambulance service could cut back on services. He believes the county has to be prepared as much as it can financially afford to be.
The question was brought up on who would be best to run the ambulance as a business. Doug Weddell and Darren had a discussion about whether the ambulance department was asked two years ago to take some action to run it as more of a business. This process began in 2020. Doug stated there have been changes made. Jason Warfel spoke and explained the budget was in the black, however, the surplus was being depleted. Doug believes the changes can be done in house. Doug agreed with the farm bureau that a third option should not have been put on the table at the meeting since it was not mentioned on Friday.
The option C mentioned in this article was submitted when bids were collected for a private run company to take over the ambulance department, however, since it did not meet the requirements set by the county for the bid, it was automatically rejected. This option can now be brought to the table since the bidding for privatization of the ambulance department has been completed and all bids were rejected.
Mike Hall stated he was glad all of the options were being presented. Jason explained he contacted the presenters after the meeting on Friday.
Jennifer spoke about the importance of ensuring there is enough coverage for the county. Darrell again reiterated that the Jasper County ambulance does not come to his house.
Angela stated the ambulance often does not always know where people are located in South Muddy and that there needs to be done in house.
The Chamber director asked several businesses about their thoughts on the sales tax increase proposal. Initially they, overall, were not in favor of raising sales tax because everything else is going up. AC Pickens said he appreciated the farm bureau looking out for the interests of the property owners, but there are also business owners who would be paying for it.
Tony stated, he spoke with some businesses as well and they were in favor of it. It depends on how you pose the questions.
Andrew and Jennifer spoke again about options for their services. Their stipend from taxes is less in Crawford County than in Jasper. She suggested beginning to offer transfers since there is a lot of money in transferring. Previous management had told the hospitals that Jasper County does not do transfers.
She really does not believe the notion should be entertained by only going to one ambulance.
Outsourcing billing and building rapport with employees are imperative to creating a profitable ambulance service. Sign on bonuses, tuition assistance, and relocation assistance are all ways to encourage recruitment. IMRF is a huge benefit for our community.
Their original proposal was $30,000. They set it low to allow funds to be available for a manager position. They would help get switched to a billing company. They would teach the new manager what they do as far as where they buy supplies, working to make sure they get the best deal on supplies, etc. They would be consultants only. They would not hire or fire, make purchases, however, they might make suggestions.
MOTIONS AND VOTING
After more discussion, Chairman Warfel read all of the options for the primary ballot and no motions were made.
