Town and village residents in Le Roy are being asked to consider a new tax for 2010 to help support its local ambulance service, which has been running at a deficient in recent years.
The tax would help offset an anticipated $25,000 shortfall in 2010.
"In order for us to continue to operate in the community, we need tax support," said Bob Boyce, president of the Le Roy Ambulance Service board of directors. "We're only asking for a minimal amount, but if the town residents object and don't allow the tax, the alternative is for us to close the doors."
Boyce said the service is being squeezed by increasing costs and declining revenue from reimbursements from Medicaid and Medicare.
While donations might help, Boyce said even in the best years, the 38-year-old ambulance service raised only $20,000 in contributions.
There will be a public hearing within weeks on the proposal.
Under current state law, it is up to the town to create a tax district and then the village board can enact a local law to extend its authority into the village.
If only the town enacts the new tax, it would mean an addition 12.5 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, or about an average of $14.43 per property. If both the town and village adopt the tax, the rate would be 6.5 cents per thousand, or $7.50 annually on each tax bill.
As the new ground ambulance service being set up by Mercy Flight, Boyce expressed concern that with all the ambulances being based in Batavia, the service won't be able to match the under-five-minute response times of the current Le Roy service. He said it takes 10 to 20 minutes for an ambulance from Batavia to respond to a Le Roy call.
At one time, the Le Roy service was staffed entirely by volunteers, but over the years, the organization has relied more and more on paid professionals, either in terms of its own full-time staff (two people) or a rotation of professionals who live in the area, work on a per-diem basis while maintaining full-time jobs with commercial ambulance services. There are still 4 or 5 volunteers with the service, Boyce said.
The service generates nearly $400,000 annually insurance billing to help support its operations.
The proposal was presented to the town board on June 25. (We'll get back to you on the date of the public hearing).
PDF: Map, Plan and Report for the Establishment of an Ambulance District
