Issue No. 13: Central Lorain Co. Joint Ambulance District seeks 2.06-mill renewal, increase for EMS services

Issue 13 What it is: A 2.06-mill renewal levy with an increase (1.15-mill renewal plus a 0.91-mill increase) Duration: Three years How much would it raise: $850,000 annually Purpose: Ambulance and EMS service for the Central Lorain County Joint Ambulance District. Cost to homeowner/taxpayer: The owner of a $100,000 home will pay $58 annually. After holding the line for many years with funding from a 1.15-mill ambulance and emergency medical services levy, the Central Lorain County Joint Ambulance District is asking voters for a little more to keep their local emergency services going. Issue 13 on the Nov. 7 ballot is a 2.06-mill renewal levy with an increase to support ambulance and EMS service in the district, comprised of the city of Oberlin, village of Kipton and Camden, Henrietta, New Russia and Pittsfield townships. If approved, the levy will raise approximately $850,000 per year, and cost the owner of a $100,000 home $58 per year, according to the Lorain County Auditor's Office. The owner of a $100,000 home currently is paying $26.36 annually. If Issue 13 passes, it would add $31.64 to that bill. Mark McConnell, a Pittsfield Township trustee and chairman of the ambulance district board of directors, said inflation and contract costs with Mercy Health are "catching up with us." Mercy Health operates and staffs the two district-owned ambulances on duty during the day and the one ambulance on duty at night. The levy will raise only "what we thought we would need to become solid again and possibly add another squad" for 12 hours at night, McConnell said. If it passes, the levy would help pay for a second ambulance crew to be on duty for a 12-hour night shift. Call volume is higher than ever, even above pre-pandemic levels. McConnell said for the health and safety of the residents of the district, "we need to be prepared to serve them and that's what we're trying to do." "We've always had this thing of providing the very best service we can at a reasonable cost," he said. The current 1.15-mill levy generates $434,000 per year to run the ambulance service. Ambulance run fees and insurance generates revenue, and the district pays Mercy about $1 million per year to run its operation. Residents of the district who already pay property taxes to support the ambulance district pay no more than $50 above what their insurance covers for an ambulance run, while non-residents pay more. "We've tried to hold the line on costs and levy money as long as we possibly could," McConnell said. "It's just a matter of inflation and stuff having caught up with us. I think we've done a fabulous job of holding at 1.15 (mills) for many years. If everybody is willing to support us, we'll be trying to hold it at 2.06 (mills) for a long time, too." Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.