BV ambulance district approves budget of $435,661 for 2023
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
BOYCEVILLE — The Boyceville Community Ambulance District Board has approved a budget of $435,661 for 2023, which compares to last year’s budget of $435,220.
The budget presented at the October 12 meeting is essentially the same budget as was presented at the September meeting, said Wayne Dow, director of the Boyceville ambulance service.
At the September meeting of the ambulance district board, the board approved a $1,000 increase for the EMS chief, which is reflected in the latest version of the budget, along with some other line item decreases, he said.
Over the past month, Boyceville once again did not have any coverage agreement calls from other ambulance services, Dow said.
The 2023 budget includes $25,000 for coverage agreements with other ambulance services, and Dow said he was hoping that would be a “safety net” for the ambulance budget.
Chuck Siler, representative for the Town of Tiffany, asked what the run charge is to the municipalities if there is no transport of a patient.
The run charge to the municipality is $1,356 regardless of whether a patient is transported, Dow said.
The Village of Boyceville and the townships are charged a per capita standby charge and an average run charge calculated on the last three years, he said.
The Boyceville Community Ambulance District Board unanimously approved the budget for 2023.
Voting in favor of the motion were representatives from the Village of Boyceville and the Towns of New Haven, Sheridan, Sherman, Stanton and Tiffany.
There was no representative at the meeting for the Town of Hay River.
Assessments
Assessments for the Boyceville ambulance service will be as follows for 2023:
• Town of Hay River — $46,104 ($25,764 in run charges plus $20,340 for per capita), compared to an assessment of $40,955 for 2022.
• Town of New Haven — $44,608 ($22,600 in run charges plus $22,008 per capita), compared to an assessment of $41,483 for 2022.
• Town of Sheridan — $10,357 ($4,520 in run charges plus $5,837 per capita), compared to an assessment of $10,392 for 2022.
• Town of Sherman — $36,658 ($19,436 in run charges plus $17,222 per capita), compared to an assessment of $30,646 for 2022.
• Town of Stanton — $51,334 ($22,148 in run charges plus $29,816 per capita), compared to an assessment of $48,635 for 2022.
• Town of Tiffany — $42,601 ($20,340 in run charges plus $22,261 per capita), compared to an assessment of $44,152 for 2022.
• Village of Boyceville — $142,430 ($103,056 in run charges plus $39,374 in per capita), compared to an assessment of $132,387 for 2022.
The total assessment for 2023 will be $374,093, compared to the total assessment for 2022 of $348,710.
Payments from patients for ambulance runs is budgeted at $55,333 for 2023.
Chief’s report
Dow reported that so far this year, the Boyceville ambulance service has gone out on 214 runs and had gone out on 30 calls since the last meeting of the ambulance district board.
The 30 calls included 15 transports by Boyceville, one helicopter landing zone, eight standbys for the school district, four standbys for the fire department, and two refusals of transport.
Two EMTs were on duty at the ambulance station for 62.5 percent of the time, and one EMT was on duty for 37.5 percent of the time, Dow said.
By the time of the October 12 meeting, two EMTs were on duty for 78 percent of the time, and one EMT was on duty for 22 percent of the time, he said.
The Boyceville ambulance service has 16 on the roster, with one Emergency Medical Responder (EMR), 10 EMTs, and five advanced EMTs. Out of the 16, 11 are active, and five are inactive because they are away at school, Dow said.
One former EMR is now an EMT, he noted.
Dow said he is waiting on several others to take the EMT exam, that he is working with one registered nurse to obtain certification to work as an EMT and that one person is taking EMT classes.
The Town of New Haven and the Town of Hay River did not approve moving to flex staffing, so Dow said he is waiting on letters from the townships to forward to the state before the state will approve flex staffing for Boyceville.
Boyceville currently is rated as an advanced ambulance service, but with flex staffing, if there are two EMT-Basics available, the service can work as a basic ambulance service and would be able to transport patients.
Because New Haven and Hay River said “no” to the flex staffing, the state requires a memorandum of understanding from each township, Dow said.
