Iola City Council members will be asked Monday to consider splitting Iola’s fire protection and emergency medical service personnel.
The proposal would assist the city in covering a chronic personnel shortage because Iola cannot find enough applicants interested in both EMS and firefighting duties.
“We’ve lost some qualified applicants” because many are not interested in doing both services, City Administrator Matt Rehder said.
As of this week, the department has four vacant positions, with a fifth coming this month, Fire Chief Corey Isbell noted.
In fact, the department has not been fully staffed since Iola began providing countywide ambulance services in 2014.
Under the plan devised by Rehder and other city staffers, each service and staff would function as its own entity.
The fire-only department would have 16 employees, and would operate with a budget of about $2.28 million for 2023, according to projections.
The revamped EMS-only service would have a staff of 19 — 11 paramedics, five advanced emergency medical technicians, two emergency medical technicians and a staff of part-timers, as well as an EMS chief. Such a service would continue to provide Type-1 EMS at stations in Iola, Humboldt and Moran.
THE COSTS for having separate services would rise, to the tune of about $600,000 annually, according to projections.
The city’s 2023 budget for the existing fire/EMS department sits at $3.5 million, including $2.8 million for salaries.
The Iola-only fire service would cost the city about $1.9 million; EMS-alone would cost $2.2 million.
Iola’s fire protection service is funded through the city’s general fund. A five-year contract reached last year with Allen County has the county paying the city $1.65 million for EMS, increasing that payment 2.5% each year through the life of the contract.
Still, with a $300,000 difference between projected cost and revenues, Rehder also will ask the Council if the city should attempt to renegotiate its contract with Allen County to cover those expenses.
OTHER items on Monday’s agenda include discussions on renewing Iola’s Neighborhood Revitalization Plan, which provides property tax rebates to those who improve their homes and businesses. The current plan expires in November.
Council members also are asked to adopt municipal court fees, to stay in accordance with recently updated traffic ordinances and city codes.
