Purchase would raise fire taxes about $8 a year
By Joanne Degnan, Managing Editor
PLUMSTED The New Egypt First Aid & Emergency Squad is counting on a series of community meetings to drum up support for an Oct. 19 referendum asking voters to approve buying a new ambulance to replace an 11-year-old vehicle.
EMS Chief Dave Rogers Jr. was scheduled to meet with seniors in the Jensen’s retirement community clubhouse on Wednesday night, after The Messenger-Press went to print, and will hold a second community-wide meeting Oct. 3 when all residents can ask questions and obtain information. The Oct. 3 meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the New Egypt First Aid Squad’s building at 32 Brynmore Road.
If approved, the referendum would authorize the Plumsted Board of Fire Commissioners to spend up to $200,000 to upgrade communications equipment and buy a new ambulance to replace the squad’s 2000 Ford E-350 Type III ambulance. The New Egypt First Aid & Emergency Squad now relies upon the fire district for funding.
The purchase would mean an increase in the fire tax rate of about two-tenths of a cent, or about $8 a year for a home assessed at the township-wide average of $381,528, Mr. Rogers said Saturday.
Mr. Rogers said a new ambulance typically costs between $130,000 and $175,000, depending on how it is equipped, and comes with a 10-year manufacturer’s warranty. The warranty on the aging Ford E-350 expired nearly two years ago and repairs are costly, he said.
The New Egypt First Aid & Emergency Squad, which is staffed during the day by paid EMS and at night and weekends by volunteers, currently has four ambulances that log more than 40,000 miles per year, Mr. Rogers said. It’s common for three or four ambulances to all be in service at the same time, Mr. Rogers said.
The nearest hospital is 14 miles away, depending on what portion of the sprawling 40-square-mile municipality the call comes from. The nearest trauma center for accident victims is 28 miles away a roundtrip of 56 miles. Because of the distance to these hospitals and trauma centers, a crew and ambulance can be tied up for hours before it is back in service in Plumsted Township ready for the next call.
”We really need all four ambulances,” Mr. Rogers said in a phone interview Saturday afternoon. “Last night we had all four on the road at the same time, and right now as I’m speaking to you three of the four ambulances are in service.”
The other three ambulances in the fleet are 2009, 2007 and 2004 models that are still under warranty, Mr. Rogers said. The squad replaces its ambulances on a 10-year schedule, making the Ford E-350 nearly two years overdue, he said.
The referendum is being put to voters on Oct. 19, instead of waiting for the February 2012 fire budget election, so that the new ambulance can be ordered before the traditional vehicle price increases occur in January, Mr. Rogers said.
There has never been a public referendum to buy an ambulance before in Plumsted because the first aid squad, which was founded in 1938, had always been able to purchase the equipment it needed through municipal contributions, donations and fundraising drives, Mr. Rogers said.
Over the past 10 years, however, municipal contributions and private donations have dropped 75 percent, as the number of ambulance calls has risen dramatically, Mr. Rogers said. The first-aid squad now depends on the fire district for the funding it needs to operate.
”We answer 1,500 a year now compared to 800 calls a year 10 years ago,” Mr. Rogers said. “Our costs are higher, but the revenue is declining. As frugal as we’ve been, we’ve still depleted our savings and our surplus.”
Mindful of the fact that Plumsted voters have not been in a spending mood in recent years, the fire commission is hoping that its community outreach efforts will help sway public opinion. The last three fire budgets, the last two school budgets, and last April’s municipal cap waiver question were all defeated at the polls.
”We are concerned given the history of the last three fire budgets, and that’s why we’ve begun this public education campaign,” Mr. Rogers said. The outreach efforts include a direct mailing to residents’ homes, as well as the scheduled community forums to answer residents’ questions, he said.
After voters defeated the $1.4 million fire budget in February, the Township Committee cut the spending plan by $43,000. The move shaved about a half-cent off the tax rate, which equated to about $15 a year for a home assessed at the township-wide average, municipal officials said at the time.
The average assessed home pays about $400 a year in fire taxes, which represents about 6.8 percent of the total property tax bill, according to the Plumsted Township tax collector’s office.