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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Irwin

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/18/07

HB 1244

SHORT TITLE

VILLAGE OF COLUMBUS AMBULANCE

SERVICES

SB

ANALYST Propst

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

$100.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Duplicates SB 1073

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Department of Finance and Administration (DFA)

Department of Health (DoH)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 1244 appropriates $100.0 from the General Fund to the Local Government Division

of the Department of Finance, to fund ambulance and emergency services in the Village of

Columbus.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $100.0 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the General Fund.

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY08 shall revert to the

General Fund.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

DFA reports that the Village of Columbus volunteer fire department provides emergency

services to the Village and along the Mexican border, serving an area of approximately 888

House Bill 1244 – Page

2

miles. They respond to 400 to 500 emergency calls per year, and a round trip to the nearest

hospital is 70 miles. They have two ambulances, but rely on volunteers to staff the department.

The Village would like to improve their services and response time by hiring EMS staff, and

replacing outdated equipment.

DoH notes that CFEMS has been in service for over 26 years but has been under increasing

pressure over the past several months because of unresolved financial insolvency. The only

revenues available to CFEMS are from patient fees (50% of patient runs are to the Port of Entry

and to Mexican Nationals); local governments do not support the operations of the ambulance

department.

CFEMS has allowed their federal grant to expire. The local ambulance service requested

emergency funds from the EMS Fund Act to use as a stipend for salaries for their employees;

however the EMS Fund Act is only available for supplies and equipment and can not be used for

salaries. The local community has banded together and funded salaries for staff of CFEMS for

the short term.

DUPLICATION

Duplicates SB 1073

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

The Village of Columbus has a tight operating budget. For FY07, the village received $9.3 in

EMS funding from the Department of Health. Other costs incurred in providing emergency

services are covered with ambulance fees or private donations.

WEP/nt