The writing was on the wall.
A lopsided contract that favored county taxpayers was a distinct disadvantage to Iola residents, putting city officials over a barrel to adequately manage a countywide ambulance service.
Monday night they threw in the towel, voting to cede control of the service back to the county in six months’ time. The hope that the move would bring county officials back to the bargaining table quickly evaporated Tuesday morning when county commissioners voted to bump up their property tax levy to help fund the service.
The sheer fact that Iola lacks the tax base of that held by the county made funding the service a disproportionate burden to Iola residents. With a $1.35 million budget, the city was expected to contribute $600,000 to the service. At the current rate, the city expected to be $377,000 short of the mark.
Efforts to convince county commissioners to help shore up the deficit was met with strong resistance over the past several months and foretold of future conflicts.
Commissioners eventually yielded to their request, but with strings strong enough to hold down Gulliver. The county agreed to give $189,000 with the condition that if the city failed to make a go of it, repayment of the money was expected.
That did not sit well with city officials.
TRUTH IS, the combination of firefighters and EMS personnel provide the best service because they are cross-trained in the two disciplines. The merger is also a money-saver, to the tune of a sound $500,000.
Instead, county residents are facing a property tax increase to fund ambulance service.
The ramifications to cede control to the county will be far-reaching. For the first time, Iola will no longer oversee its EMS services and its fire department will be a stand-alone entity.
Whether Iola has enough “business” to keep fire department personnel sufficiently occupied should be interesting. Up to now, Iola firefighters were also trained as paramedics and included ambulance calls in their line of duty.
From its beginning, the contract with the county was fraught with hazard because of so many unknowns, including overtime and equipment expenditures. That’s to be expected.
The initial phases of a new venture aren’t the time to expect efficiencies. That’s why Mayor Joel Wicoff pleaded with fellow council members not to give up the service after only six months, but rather stick it out. County Commissioner Tom Williams earlier voiced confidence the combined service could weather the rocky beginning and emerge a success.
We’ll never know.
— Susan Lynn
Breakup of merger brings higher taxes, reduced services
