Deadline nigh for ambulance service
June 10, 2012
By Mike Weland

By Mike Weland

A gauntlet thrown by the Boundary Volunteer Ambulance Association is set to trigger the end of BVA at one minute past midnight Thursday morning if their funding demands aren't met, and so far, neither side is blinking.

At a meeting May 15 described later as "heated" by county commission chair Ron Smith, BVA, through attorney Brian Wood, all but demanded that commissioners dramatically increase funding the county pays the association each year so that BVA can live up to its contractual obligations, or they will stop providing ambulance services and let the county figure out how to provide its citizens a service mandated by Idaho Code.

Unsatisfied with the "best" offer commissioners said they could make, BVA issued a 30-day ultimatum, saying essentially that if their demands weren't met, they would void a contract that was last renewed in 1998.

For years, Boundary County has paid BVA, a 401c non-profit, $8,000 per year, and while the association has grumbled in the past that the amount wasn't enough, they never went through the county budgeting process to have the amount increased.

"We've been telling them to do it for a few years now," said commissioner Walt Kirby. "They haven't done it."

Earlier this year, the association asked that a county-wide ambulance taxing district be formed, and that BVA be chosen to continue providing ambulance service to the county as they've done since the association was formed 47 years ago.

Despite considerable public protest, commissioners did form an ambulance taxing district. Though they expressed their appreciation for the work done by BVA volunteer EMTs over the years, they did not name BVA or any other entity as the county ambulance service provider, but instead chose to take advantage of a clause in state code that gives them time to accept proposals from interested service providers and make an informed decision.

Even with passage of a district, no funding can be dispersed until being included in the county's fy2013 budget, even had BVA been selected and a levy amount set.

By forming a taxing district, state law allows the county to budget up to a maximum of .04-percent of the county's assessed property value for funding ambulance services. Without the district, the cap is .02-percent. Commissioners offered to increase this years' funding to BVA to $40,000, an increase of $32,000, to give the county time to figure out the myriad details involved, set a levy amount award a contract and budget for ambulance service.

That is the maximum, Smith said, that the county could squeeze out of this year's budget.

Wood disagreed, saying he wanted the full .02-percent allowed by law, or $175,000, but he said BVA would settle for $80,000, retroactive to January, 2012, and payable by December 31, and another $80,000 for next year.

Once the ambulance taxing district is formed, Wood said, BVA would require the full .04-percent allowed under a seven year contract if the county wants to retain its services.

In addition, he said the county needs to buy some land or deed BVA land the county already owns and build Boundary Volunteer Ambulance a new building.

As to any oversight on how the county taxpayers' money would be used, Wood said that BVA is a non-profit corporation having nothing to do with county commissioners; as a private contractor providing a service, he said, the county was, in effect, making a decision on whether or not to hire BVA at a rate fair to both; if BVA didn't agree with the amount offered, he said, it was their prerogative to stop providing the service.

Commissioners were just as adamant that they wouldn't be coerced ... the offer is on the table and that's as good as it's going to get until they have time to look at all angles to ensure that taxpayers' money is being used wisely for providing county ambulance service in next year's budget.

"He's asking commissioners to sell the farm," Smith said. "He's saying we should declare an emergency so we can pay them what they want when there is no emergency, or that we should sell county property to give them what they want. He says that maybe we should sell some of the sheriff's vehicles ... now that ain't going to happen."

The hard-line stance of BVA surprised many, including a number of volunteer BVA EMTs, who told commissioners at subsequent meetings that they were volunteers here to provide a service the county needs, and that they intended to continue to serve, with BVA or without.

South Boundary Fire Chief Tony Rohrwasser, who has worked with BVA for years and who has many volunteer firefighters who also volunteer as EMTs with Boundary Volunteer Ambulance, told commissioners that he has lost respect for the organization, though not the volunteer EMTs, and said he would do whatever he could to ensure that ambulance service remains in the community, even if BVA as a corporation doesn't. He said several current EMTs agree to do the same.

Commissioner Dan Dinning said this whole situation is the result of a lack of communication that could have easily been avoided had issues been addressed rationally before they rose to crisis proportions.

But now, with less than a week before the BVA deadline, this unintentional game of chicken may well end in a train wreck nobody involved wants to see.