Council OKs fire/EMS contract; townships yet to give approval
The Hillsboro City Council has voted to authorize Hillsboro Mayor Drew Hastings to enter into an agreement with area townships for fire and EMS coverage at $27 per person. The trustees must still consider and approve the contract before it is finalized.
During Monday's regular February meeting, when the resolution was presented, Council President Lee Koogler asked if there were any questions or discussion on the part of council. Council did not respond, and Koogler asked for a vote.
The city has been negotiating with Hamer, Jackson, Liberty, New Market, Paint and Washington townships on a continuation of their contract for fire and EMS to be provided by Hillsboro Fire and Rescue. A point of contention has been how much the townships will pay per person for the services. In previous contracts, the townships did not pay for EMS, and it was included with the fire services.
Council voted to waive the three-reading rule, and then council member Brian Waller made a motion, which was seconded by Bonnie Parr, to adopt the resolution. The legislation was passed 5-0. Council members Dave Shoemaker and Rod Daniels were not present during the meeting.
The one-year contract will be retroactive until Jan. 1, 2012.
Representatives from Liberty and Paint Townships were present during Monday's meeting. Liberty Township Fiscal Officer Jolene Walker said that Liberty had not been officially presented with the contract yet, and they would most likely consider it during their regularly scheduled meeting, Feb. 27. Walker said that there were some issues in the contract that the townships had not initially been in agreement on, such as they had wanted the contract to be for more than a one-year period.
Walker said that if the townships approve the contract, Liberty Township's fire and EMS costs will have gone up 61 percent. According to 2010 Census figures, there are 3,637 people in Liberty Township, she said, and at $27 per person, that is $98,199.
Highland County Prosecutor Anneka Collins, who is legal counsel to the townships, said that she received the proposed figures from the city on Thursday afternoon. She said that she had spoken to at least one trustee from each of the townships regarding the contract.
"It is my understanding that this is the city's offer and then the townships will have a chance to decide if this is what they want to do," Collins told The Highland County Press Monday evening. "It is going to be up to the trustees. If they are satisfied with the contract, great. If not, then we are back to square one."
The monthly countywide township trustees meeting will be held Wednesday evening, and Collins said that she would be giving the trustees copies of the contract then.
The current council had been set to end Dec. 31, 2011, but council voted on Dec. 28 to extend the contract by 60 days.
In June, Hillsboro Auditor Gary Lewis had told council's finance committee that the current cost of services per person per year is $17.81. Lewis said that $9.06 would be needed to cover the costs of the equipment, which brings the total to $26.87, which he rounded up to $27 per township resident. It would bring in an additional $113,000 per year. That would be combined with the current "soft billing" that the city does on EMS runs. In negotiating the contract, the city offered $40 per resident, and the townships countered with $22 per resident. Negotiations have been ongoing since then.
Negotiations and complications between the city and the townships began in May 2010 when Holt sent a letter - under the direction of council - to the township trustees initiating negotiation for 2011's emergency services contract with Hamer, Jackson, Liberty, New Market, Paint, Penn and Washington townships. The city initially proposed an increase between 42 percent and 76.34 percent for the individual townships.
Penn Township ultimately joined the Highland County North Joint Fire and Ambulance District in Leesburg.
In November 2010, after six months of negotiations, council voted 5-2 to accept a contract with an 18-percent increase for fire services, with the condition EMS services be provided at no additional charge through 2011.
Four months later, then-Hillsboro Safety and Service Director Ralph Holt sent a letter to the township trustees of the affected counties on March 17 saying that due to the financial hardship the EMS services were causing to the city, the EMS services would be cancelled by June 30. The townships currently do not pay for EMS services, but they do pay for fire services.
In June, it was announced that the city would continue to honor its contract and provide the services through Dec. 31, 2011, and that negotiations would continue for the 2012 contract.