The Maysville Board of Trustees voted to accept bids for the town’s ambulance service during a regular meeting of the board Monday.
The action comes after trustees were notified last fall that the cost of the town’s ambulance service, provided by Wadley’s EMS, Inc. in Purcell, would be increasing from around $3,200 per month to $7,000 per month due to increasing fuel and supply costs.
“It’s not just us, it’s ambulance services all over the state,” Jackie Wadley told trustees during the board’s regular meeting in September of last year.
Maysville currently pays for ambulance service with an $8 EMS charge assessed on municipal water bills. A portion of that EMS charge also goes to fire and police services.
“We’re funded by the town of Maysville’s citizens, but we also cover outside the city limits of Maysville,” Wadley told the board during the September meeting, explaining the Maysville EMS district stretches west to Wallville Road, south almost to Rush Creek and a mile or so to the east of Maysville.
At that meeting, Wadley proposed the board of trustees use the Maysville EMS District’s portion of a halfcent county sales tax to pay for the ambulance service contract and redirect the $8 EMS fee assessed on water bills for other emergency service needs. The board tabled the item in September, in part to give the town attorney time to investigate whether the EMS fee could be used for other emergency services.
The half-cent county sales tax Wadley suggested Maysville use to pay for ambulance service was approved by voters in April of 2021 and is set to be collected for a seven-year period.
Eighty percent of the halfcent is designated for public safety services in the county, with 36% of that 80% set aside to fund public ambulance services in Garvin County. The ambulance portion is split evenly between the six ambulance districts in existence in the county when the tax was approved.
Voters have the option to renew the tax for another seven-year period once it expires.
According to County Clerk Lori Fulks the portion of the sales tax designated for ambulance service has been averaging $10,000-$13,000 per month for each of the six ambulance districts. Those funds are not distributed directly to the districts but are held in a county account until requested by the district to pay for approved expenses.
During Monday’s meeting, Wadley advised the board of trustees Maysville’s ambulance service contract, which is set to expire in June, will need to be renewed at the new rate of $7,000 per month.
Trustee Joe Couch objected to the cost increase reflected in the new contract and expressed concern over whether the county sales tax money would be enough to cover the costs in the long term.
“It’s not agreeable to me. It doubles our price for ambulance service,” Couch said.
“The only other choice we have is to put it out for bid and see what we get,” Trustee David Uhles said.
Wadley told the board the contract presented Monday is the same contract they’ve been operating under for the last five or six years, with the only change being the price. Under the contract, Wadley’s EMS responds to calls for service in the Maysville ambulance district but does not have an ambulance stationed in Maysville.
“I think as a board we need to put this out for bid. If yours is good, which I think it is, you’re going to win it anyway,” Uhles told Wadley.
Trustees voted unanimously to put the ambulance service out for bids until May 12. Uhles said they expect to open bids and make a decision at their regular meeting May 15.
The board of trustees also took time at the outset of Monday’s meeting to swear in newly elected trustees David Uhles, Anita Uhles, Cindy White, Janet Davis and Town Clerk Sandra Albright before moving into regular business.
In other action taken during Monday’s meeting, trustees:
•. approved a motion to partner with Paoli on their annual Fourth of July firework festival July 1.
•voted to change the retirement plan for the police department from the standard 401K offered to all town employees to the Oklahoma Police Pension and Retirement Fund. Police Chief Doug Jolley told trustees the switch will help the department to attract and retain certified officers.
•approved providing the fire chief with a cell phone, mobile hot spot and computer for fire department use.
•voted to increase the municipal court clerk’s hours to 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday through Friday to provide additional access for the public to pay fines.
•approved transferring $5,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds to the Maysville library to cover lost revenue related to the COVID-19 pandemic.