By Jeremy D. Wells
Carter County Times
The Carter County Emergency Ambulance Board met in special session on Monday to approve a date and time for their tax rate hearing, and a special meeting to approve the rate.
That public meeting will be held at the Ambulance Service Station in Grayson, Monday, August 28 at 2 p.m. A special board meeting will follow the tax rate hearing, at 3 p.m. The ambulance board are expected to approve their new tax rate at that meeting.
While the service has been bringing in more revenue with their billing service, they rely on their special taxing district status to help fund the service.
In his report to the board executive director Rick Loperfido noted that calls are slightly down over the same period last year, with the service currently at 3,341 calls for the year, compared to 3,400 in 2022. Calls for July, however, were only down by three over than month in the previous year.
Loperfido also discussed ongoing issues with vehicles, staffing for the county fair, and plans to cover events for the upcoming KCU football season.
He also reported on staffing, noting that the service is “close to becoming fully staffed once again, with the required number of paramedics and EMTs.”
While they are still down one full-time paramedic, he said, they’ve been filling those hours with staff from their “part-time roster.”
Loperfido also reported on the installation of their new heart monitors, and on the search for a reliable and affordable wi-fi hotspot option for their vehicles.
Loperfido said their discussions relating to mobile data had also prompted the service to hold discussions with E911 staff to “see if we can all benefit from changing internet providers.”
The board also discussed plans about approaching the fiscal court for assistance in converting one of their vehicles into a bariatric truck, for transporting larger patients.
In her financial report Valerie Nolan noted that income was down in July, at $215,630.81; which was $39,674.19 less than budgeted and $117,371.36 less than the same month last year. Expenses for the month were also up, coming in at $294,689.66 or $47,563.66 more than budgeted.
Payroll was also over budget, Nolan noted, but still a 13 % decrease over the previous year.
Unscheduled overtime was also down, she noted.
Contact the writer at editor@cartercountytimes.com