By Mike Crowley
The Meadville Tribune, Pa.
WEST MEAD TOWNSHIP, Pa. — The owner of the only Meadville-based ambulance service addressed township supervisors at their Tuesday study session with a reminder, a request and a notification.
The reminder from Eric Henry, who operates Meadville Area Ambulance Service (MAAS), concerned the duties of townships like West Mead and the other 23 municipalities for which MAAS is a primary provider of emergency medical transportation services.
“The state of Pennsylvania is a commonwealth and what that means is the lowest form of government is responsible for public safety,” said Henry, who also serves as chairman of the Crawford County Board of Commissioners. “Public safety — fire and EMS — you’re required for the municipal code to assign a provider for fire and EMS, up to and including financial assistance.”
State law authorizes municipalities to tax property owners up to 0.5 mills for EMS services, Henry continued. Currently, none of the 24 municipalities served by MAAS have such a tax, according to Henry.
Henry is in the midst of visiting all 24 municipalities — West Mead was his ninth stop — and making the same request to each: Institute the 0.5-mill EMS tax. Given the state of the business, he said, “it’s the only thing that EMS providers are left to do.”
With just as many calls as they had prior to the COVID-19 pandemic but five fewer full-time employees, Henry said his “stressed-out and tired employees, most of them who are over the age of 55" are typical of EMS services everywhere.
Facing rising fuel costs, unchanging reimbursement rates from Medicare and Medicaid, and wage competition from a wide variety of low-skill positions, something has to change for EMS providers, according to Henry.
His notification, as a result, was that for municipalities that do not institute the tax increase he was requesting, MAAS will decline to serve as the primary provider.
Don Bovard, chairman of the township’s board of supervisors, reiterated the message to stress its importance.
“What Eric said was,” Bovard explained, “if we don’t support him, he could pull out.”
For municipalities that don’t raise taxes and no longer have MAAS as their primary EMS provider, asked Supervisor Michael Jordan, “Who are they going to get?”
“I don’t know,” replied Henry. In such a situation MAAS would continue to respond to emergencies in the municipality, but the municipal government itself would be billed directly at the full rate rather than a rate reduced by insurance or government subsidies.
In West Mead Township, a 0.5-mill EMS tax would generate about $42,000 annually, according to Bovard.
At the current township rate of 4.25 mills, the owner of a property in the township with the average assessed value of $29,341.79, annual taxes are $124.70. An increase of 0.5 mills would bring that up to $139.37, an increase of $14.67 each year.
Ambulance services billed at the full rate would surpass $42,000 after about 20 trips, Henry noted.
His argument proved persuasive to the supervisors.
“I agree with what he said. I’m all in favor of giving him $42,000,” said Bovard, calling the issue a “no-brainer.”
Supervisor John Shartle expressed support as well. Jordan acknowledged the move was likely necessary, but said before he could vote in favor of it he would need more information on how the money would be spent. But topping his list of concerns was the question of whether all 24 municipalities would agree to institute a new tax.
“I don’t want to see 10 townships carrying 12 others,” Jordan said, referring to the 22 municipalities served by MAAS in Crawford County. The ambulance service also serves two Mercer County municipalities.
Another question to be confronted is where the money will come from. When Shartle expressed surprise at hearing Bovard, who has consistently opposed tax increases of any kind since taking office in 2018, offer support for more spending, Bovard clarified his position. Rather than increasing taxes on property owners, he said, the township should redirect money it currently gives to Meadville Area Recreation Authority. The township’s 2022 budget includes $62,500 for the Meadville Area Recreation Complex’s operational expenses.
Shartle immediately opposed such a move.
“We will butt heads there,” he said. “We put a lot of money into that place. That’s an investment for the future of our kids, kids that have come and gone. We’ve got to have something here for people to stay for. That’s all we have, and it isn’t much.”
Although Henry requested the tax increase, he did so, he said, because it is the only option allowed by state law. Better options have been proposed in recent years, but none have been passed into law by the state Legislature. A state-level solution to the economic challenges faced by public safety generally would make more sense, according to Henry, but none has been forthcoming — even at a time when the state’s “rainy day” reserves are at an all-time high of nearly $5 billion.
“It’s a good time for everyone to sit at the table and find a better solution than having the lowest form of government solve the problem,” Henry said. “I think it is a state issue because the state mandates you to provide an EMS provider, but they do not provide you money to do that.”
When the topic came up in a recent Meadville Tribune forum for candidates in the race for the 6th District seat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, eight-time incumbent Brad Roae suggested municipalities can take action to help solve the problem.
“Municipalities are going to have to step up and contribute toward the cost of funding fire and EMS,” he said.
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