Allen County commissioners Tuesday morning put aside for at least four years consideration of how county and Iola ambulance services might be merged.
A year ago, when the city agreed to aid with construction of a new Allen County Hospital by dedicating proceeds from half of a city half-cent sales tax, an outcome was that ambulance issues would be put on the back burner for five years.
“If we don’t stick to that agreement, I think it muddies things up,” said Commissioner Gary McIntosh.
Commissioners Dick Works and Rob Francis agreed.
The discussion was a reversal from two weeks ago when they considered, at McIntosh’s behest, a citizens committee to study each service in depth and make recommendations.
That occurred after Ron Conaway, who directs the city service, proposed Iola take control of all service in the county. He said then that such a move could provide substantial savings, since annual budgets for each were in excess of $1 million and that one service could be operated for little more than what each costs today.
County commissioners proposed a week ago, after meeting with county emergency medical personnel, that similar savings could be realized with the county providing service for all of the county.
Commissioners then took discussions off the table Tuesday morning.
So, as it has been since the city started it service independent of the county two years ago, Iola ambulances will answer calls in the city and county ambulances will elsewhere in the county. The two services have ambulances stationed about a quarter of a mile apart in Iola, the city’s at its fire station, 408 N. Washington Ave., and the county’s at 410 N. State St. The county also has ambulances operating from Humboldt and Moran.
Before a series of events led to contentiousness, a countywide service, with the county providing ambulances and maintenance, operated under the hand of Iola’s fire chief as county ambulance director.
That changed when county commissioners deemed it appropriate for the county to manage the service, and then became two when city commissioners decided it was better for Iolans to have their own.
A PUBLIC hearing for the county’s 2012 budget drew no public comment; no one darkened the door.
The budget proposes net expenditures next year of $11,945,260, supported by a property tax levy of 67.602 mills, which is .154 of a mill less than this year’s.
A levy of 1 mill raises $1 on assessed valuation of $1,000, meaning the owner of a $100,000 home would pay $777.42 in county taxes.
Joe Hurla of 360 Energy Solutions, Lawrence, told commissioners a project to replace the roof on the county’s critical response center, 410 N. State St., install a new chiller atop the courthouse and reconfigure electronic controls for heating and air-conditioning in the courthouse had been completed.
Cost was $249,426, with a grant from the Kansas Energy Office paying $150,000, the county the remainder.
Hurla said the courthouse climate-control systems would be monitored for 18 months to ensure that projected savings in utility costs were realized.
