Hillsboro gives townships notice EMS services to be cancelled
By
Brandy Chandler-brandychandler@gmail.com
The city of Hillsboro has given notice to area township trustees that they will be discontinuing EMS services to Hamer, Jackson, Liberty, New Market, Paint, Penn and Washington townships as of June 30, due to the financial hardship on the city.
Liberty Township Fiscal Officer Jolene Walker received a letter from the city on Friday giving townships a notice of 90 days that Hillsboro Fire and Rescue will no longer be providing EMS services to the townships. Services will be discontinued June 30, it said.
The current contract states the city will provide the services until Dec. 30, 2011.
Contract negotiations between the city and the townships were the cause of much contention in 2010 when the city initiated a first-time fee for EMS services. The townships and the city negotiated the matter from May until November, when a contract was signed.
Highland Country Prosecutor Jim Grandey, who is legal counsel to the townships, told The Highland County Press that he had been in negotiations with Hillsboro Safety and Service Director Ralph Holt and Hillsboro Law Director Fred Beery on the 2012 contracts, and that he had no indication they were planning on discontinuing services.
"I had met with Mr. Beery and Mr. Holt and had requested some information so we can go back and do some projections and so forth," Grandey said. "To this day, I have not received that information. I asked for it twice and Mr. Beery has supposedly asked the city to do that. With this action, maybe it's not forthcoming."
Grandey said that he has not personally read the correspondence from the city, but that township trustees had informed him from the action. Grandey said he wanted to reserve further comment until he has had some to analyze the letter and the contract between the townships and city.
"They are supposed to be doing the EMS without charge until the end of the year," Grandey said. "I thought everything was going fine."
Beery declined to comment to The Highland County Press Friday, saying that Holt or Hillsboro Mayor Dick Zink should be the ones to make a statement on the matter.
The Hillsboro City Council met in regular session this week, and the matter was not mentioned in open session. Holt did not have a report to council as he usually does, but he did request council enter into executive session to discuss contracts and security. Council met in executive session for approximately an hour. The only action taken following the session was a vote to not accept a finding of fact regarding union negotiations with the fire and police unions.
Holt and Hillsboro City Council President Lee Koogler did not immediately return calls to The Highland County Press seeking comment.
Zink told The Highland County Press on Friday that a letter was drafted this week and sent to the seven affected townships, that because of the hardships the city is facing, they can not longer afford to provide the EMS services.
"When we go through the budget and we stated looking at everything and Ralph (Holt) started talking to the law director because we had to do something to make up the (pending deficit)," Zink said. "The way I understand it, he wants to talk to each township trustee, not collectively and with the county prosecutor. With each trustee."
The city of Hillsboro, according to auditor Gary Lewis, had faced a projected deficit by the end of 2011. In February, the city cut more than $400,000 from its budget, which resulted in a projected carryover of $70,000 into 2012.
Zink said that the budget council passed in February included the expense of providing the EMS services to the township through December.
"The law director says if it's a hardship - which it is - on the budget, then you can discontinue it. The (contracts) say they can be discontinued with 90 days notice."
Zink said that there should not be a blanket contract for all the townships, because they all operate under different circumstances.
According to the contracts, each township pays a different amount based on the number of runs.
Zink said in November that the city billed $431,277 for EMS services into the townships and only received $159,403 back.
"The bad part is, we don't have the funds to fix the streets, we don't have the funds to fix the water lines while we're out spending money outside the corporation limit," Zink said. That's not fair to our citizens. I really don't want to see the townships go without EMS services, but we can't afford to carry the load. If they would come in and talk, it would probably be resolved."
Zink said that Highland County didn't have the funds to provide EMS services to the townships, but, somebody needs to stand up and do what they need to do to get it corrected."
In November 2010, the Hillsboro City Council voted to accept a counterproposal from area townships for an 18-percent increase for fire services, with the condition EMS services be provided at no additional charge through 2011.
In May the city began negotiation the costs of the fire contracts with Hamer, Jackson, Liberty, New Market, Paint, Penn and Washington townships. Earlier this year townships had proposed a 12 percent increase over the 2010 rates, and the city of Hillsboro made a counter proposal of 18 percent over the 2010 fire contract rate and providing EMS services until June 1, 2011. After that date, the city said it would charge the township $637 for each EMS run. The townships submitted a letter to the city, dated Nov. 16, saying they would agree to the 18 percent increase in 2011 for the fire contract only provided, however, that the city of Hillsboro continue to provide EMS services to the townships at no extra charge through, and including, Dec. 21, 2011.
The Ohio revised code prohibits levy funds designated to pay for fire services to be used for EMS services. Most of the townships have indicated they will need to take the issue of a separate EMS levy to the voters. The city previously had not included EMS charges in the fire contracts.
The city's initial contract proposal to the townships had increases between 42 percent and 76.34 percent for the individual townships.
Prior to the finalization of the 2011 contract, the townships had met to discuss their options if an agreement could not be reached with the city, and alternatives included contracting with a private company, joining other fire/EMS districts, or starting their own fire/EMS district.
The city of Hillsboro has given notice to area township trustees that they will be discontinuing EMS services to Hamer, Jackson, Liberty, New Market, Paint, Penn and Washington townships as of June 30, due to the financial hardship on the city.
Liberty Township Fiscal Officer Jolene Walker received a letter from the city on Friday giving townships a notice of 90 days that Hillsboro Fire and Rescue will no longer be providing EMS services to the townships. Services will be discontinued June 30, it said. The letter was dated March 17 and signed by Hillsboro Safety and Service Director Ralph Holt.
The current contract states the city will provide the services until Dec. 30, 2011.
Contract negotiations between the city and the townships were the cause of much contention in 2010 when the city initiated a first-time fee for EMS services. The townships and the city negotiated the matter from May until November, when a contract was signed.
Highland Country Prosecutor Jim Grandey, who is legal counsel to the townships, told The Highland County Press that he had been in negotiations with Holt and Hillsboro Law Director Fred Beery on the 2012 contracts, and that he had no indication they were planning on discontinuing services.
"I had met with Mr. Beery and Mr. Holt and had requested some information so we can go back and do some projections and so forth," Grandey said. "To this day, I have not received that information. I asked for it twice, and Mr. Beery has supposedly asked the city to do that. With this action, maybe it's not forthcoming."
Grandey said that he has not personally read the correspondence from the city, but that township trustees had informed him from the action. Grandey said he wanted to reserve further comment until he has had some to analyze the letter and the contract between the townships and city.
"They are supposed to be doing the EMS without charge until the end of the year," Grandey said. "I thought everything was going fine."
Beery declined to comment to The Highland County Press Friday, saying that Holt or Hillsboro Mayor Dick Zink should be the ones to make a statement on the matter.
The Hillsboro City Council met in regular session this week, and the matter was not mentioned in open session. Holt did not have a report to council as he usually does, but he did request council enter into executive session to discuss contracts and security. Council met in executive session for approximately an hour. The only action taken following the session was a vote to not accept a finding of fact regarding union negotiations with the fire and police unions.
Holt and Hillsboro City Council President Lee Koogler did not immediately return calls to The Highland County Press seeking comment.
Zink told The Highland County Press on Friday that a letter was drafted this week and sent to the seven affected townships stating that because of the hardships the city is facing, they can no longer afford to provide the EMS services.
"When we go through the budget and we started looking at everything, Ralph (Holt) started talking to the law director because we had to do something to make up the (pending deficit)," Zink said. "The way I understand it, he wants to talk to each township trustee, not collectively, and with the county prosecutor. With each trustee."
The city of Hillsboro, according to auditor Gary Lewis, had faced a projected deficit by the end of 2011. In February, the city cut more than $400,000 from its budget, which resulted in a projected carryover of $70,000 into 2012.
Zink said that the budget council passed in February included the expense of providing the EMS services to the township through December.
"The law director says if it's a hardship - which it is - on the budget, then you can discontinue it. The (contracts) say they can be discontinued with 90 days notice."
Zink said that there should not be a blanket contract for all the townships because they all operate under different circumstances.
According to the contracts, each township pays a different amount based on the number of runs.
Zink said in November that the city billed $431,277 for EMS services into the townships and only received $159,403 back.
"The bad part is, we don't have the funds to fix the streets, we don't have the funds to fix the water lines while we're out spending money outside the corporation limit," Zink said. "That's not fair to our citizens. I really don't want to see the townships go without EMS services, but we can't afford to carry the load. If they would come in and talk, it would probably be resolved."
Zink said that Highland County didn't have the funds to provide EMS services to the townships, but, "somebody needs to stand up and do what they need to do to get it corrected."
In November 2010, the Hillsboro City Council voted to accept a counterproposal from area townships for an 18-percent increase for fire services, with the condition EMS services be provided at no additional charge through 2011.
In May the city began negotiation the costs of the fire contracts with Hamer, Jackson, Liberty, New Market, Paint, Penn and Washington townships. Earlier this year, townships had proposed a 12-percent increase over the 2010 rates, and the city of Hillsboro made a counter-proposal of 18 percent over the 2010 fire contract rate and providing EMS services until June 1, 2011. After that date, the city said it would charge the township $637 for each EMS run. The townships submitted a letter to the city, dated Nov. 16, saying they would agree to the 18 percent increase in 2011 for the fire contract only provided, however, that the city of Hillsboro continue to provide EMS services to the townships at no extra charge through, and including, Dec. 21, 2011.
The Ohio revised code prohibits levy funds designated to pay for fire services to be used for EMS services. Most of the townships have indicated they will need to take the issue of a separate EMS levy to the voters. The city previously had not included EMS charges in the fire contracts.
The city's initial contract proposal to the townships had increases between 42 percent and 76.34 percent for the individual townships.
Prior to the finalization of the 2011 contract, the townships had met to discuss their options if an agreement could not be reached with the city, and alternatives included contracting with a private company, joining other fire/EMS districts, or starting their own fire/EMS district.