by Kate Shunney
A third and final public hearing about a Morgan County commercial ambulance fee taking effect was held on February 18, with little public involvement but more specific discussion than at previous hearings about the proposal.
Morgan County’s Ambulance Fee ordinance has not been updated in 10 years, since 2016 when the annual residential free increased to $150 per housing unit.
Commissioner Sean Forney, who sits on the EMS Board and has been working on the issue, said the costs of medication, medical equipment and vehicles have gone up “tremendously” since COVID. That has driven up the cost of the annual contract between the county and Morgan County Rescue Service to provide 24/7 advanced life support ambulance service throughout the county.
Forney said there was a need to figure out how to raise more funds for the EMS contract.
“We didn’t want to go back to homeowners and say, ‘Sorry, the current fee just isn’t cutting it’,” he said.
Forney said the EMS Board was hopeful about some legislation working its way through the current session of the West Virginia Legislature that could have raised funds in other ways, but he said they don’t appear to be “gaining traction at the state.”
The 60-day legislative session ends on March 14.
County resident Randy Waugh said at the public hearing he hoped some other ambulance service would take over in Morgan County, citing several incidents he recounted about ambulance service and medical transports that upset him.
Commissioner President Joel Tuttle told Waugh that the county contracts with Morgan County Rescue Service for the ambulance service and doesn’t control their business practices, billing or licensure.
“It’s not likely we’re going to get six entities interested in providing ambulance service in Morgan County. I’d be shocked if we got three,” Tuttle said.
Waugh said he thought it was time for the ambulance company to “tighten their budget up”.
Tuttle said the county doesn’t have a “micromanaging” contract with Morgan County Rescue Service, which is a non-profit entity.
“Our job as Commissioner and the EMS Board is to get the most of what we can and be good stewards of the money we collect,” he said.
He noted that the ambulance contract requires a response time of 17 minutes or under, on average. Morgan County Rescue Service has an average response time of under 12 minutes.
If approved, the commercial ambulance fee would go into effect on July 1. At minimum, the fee would be $150 per year for a commercial property. The fee rises by square footage of the premises.
A copy of the proposed ordinance and fee schedule is available from the Morgan County Commission office in the courthouse. Commissioners are still taking comments about the proposal by email to bclark@morgancountywv.gov, sforney@morgancountywv.gov or jtuttle@morgancountywv.gov.