Item 1: Future Ambulance Transport Funding

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ATTACHMENT A further collaboration between Eugene Fire & EMS and Springfield Fire & Life Safe- ty, beyond that already occurring. The ESCI report, which has been presented to the two City Councils, concludes that merging the support functions of these departments would save the cities an estimated $850,000 per year through the elimination of redundant positions (via retirements and normal attrition). The consultants recommended such a merger. This proposal happens to align well with our other recommendations. With an inter- governmental agreement merging these departments as an initial step, not only will significant General Fund savings be realized immediately, but also, and more impor- tantly for the long term, the transition to a district will be a smaller, more manageable step. For these reasons our Task Force is in support of working toward the recom- mended merger. New Form of Taxation 3. This recommendation is based on our belief that continued and growing General Fund support for ambulance service is unsustainable, and that all other revenue-raising and cost-cutting measures combined are not sufficient to resolve this issue. Fire District – In most of Lane County, and increasingly throughout the United States, fire and ambulance services are provided by special-purpose districts. The growth in emergency service special districts in areas traditionally served by municipalities may be attributed to greater competition among public services for increasingly scarce re- sources, given these districts show a higher degree of success historically to secure public willingness to pass tax measures to fund high-quality fire, rescue, and emer- gency medical services. A general fire service district, including ambulance service, offers a significant public safety advantage over a district that provides ambulance service only, because – as is the case now in all three of our jurisdictions – ambulances can be staffed by cross- trained firefighter/paramedics who can, as necessary, supplement non-ambulance fire and rescue efforts. In a multi-unit response, the availability of these additional fire- fighters can make a life-saving difference. Health District or County Service District – A new limited special-purpose district could be formed in the region, or the region could annex to an existing health district, to provide ambulance service. Such a district would be governed by an elected board of directors. Alternatively, a county service district could be established. This type of entity would be governed by the Lane County Board of Commissioners. Under ei- ther of these options, any boundary could be drawn, as long as it did not overlap another district providing the same service. Either option would require an affirma- tive vote of the electors within the proposed district. Appendix H is an overview of district-related options for ambulance service funding, prepared in June by Lane Council of Governments. The Task Force also reviewed a full LCOG report regarding districts that was commissioned by the Lane County Fire Defense Board. 5