PORTSMOUTH — The Town Council has eliminated a plan to charge Portsmouth residents for ambulance service beyond what is paid by their insurance.
The new proposal, intended as a revenue-generator to help defray the costs of future rescue vehicle purchases and other expenses, was originally included in the town administrator’s budget for next year.
Discussion of the rescue service came on Monday, when the council voted 6-1 to approve a provisional budget of $58.26 million for the fiscal year beginning July 1. The spending plan, which represents a 1 percent increase over the current budget, will be advertised for a June 10 public hearing at 7 p.m. at the middle school. The council is expected to officially adopt the budget on June 22.
The town does not currently charge local residents for the Fire Department’s ambulance service beyond what is paid by their insurance. Those residents under 65 would have been, however, under the new proposal. (Older residents would be charged only what their medical insurance pays.) All residents would be given an annual credit of $200 toward out-of-pocket costs not covered by insurance, according to Interim Town Administrator James Lathrop, who said the new charge was also proposed to counter high deductibles contained in many insurance policies.
Fire Chief Michael Cranson said it costs an average of $435 to $450 for an ambulance run.
But resident Judi Staven, who’s been a vocal critic of the plan to charge residents for ambulance service since it was first proposed last year, questioned those figures. She said she’s heard the rescue runs can cost over $1,000 each.
Emergency ambulance runs, she maintained, should be a basic service afforded to taxpayers. “It shouldn’t be over and above what we pay on taxes, unless you’re going to lower our taxes,” she said.
Ms. Staven also questioned how the town intended to enforce the new rule. “If I refuse to pay, what would you do?” she asked. “Put a lien on my house?”
Larry Fitzmorris of the taxpayer group Portsmouth Concerned Citizens, also spoke out against a new charge for residents. “Ambulance service is a core provision of services the town provides … and somehow we got off the beaten path,” Mr. Fitzmorris said.
After Council President Keith Hamilton said he also didn’t like the idea of asking residents to pay for ambulance service, the council voted 7-0 to take that provision out of the provisional budget and to move the $150,000 in revenue that had been budgeted for ambulance service to the town’s fund balance.
School surplus questioned
The School Department’s portion of the budget is $35.1 million, just a slight increase (0.1 percent) over the current spending plan.
Council member Elizabeth Pedro cast the sole dissenting vote on the provisional budget, citing objections she had with the schools’ spending plan. Ms. Pedro’s biggest problem was with the School Department’s surplus of $2.3 million, none of which under state law can be returned to the town’s coffers.
“I don’t believe the School Department should be holding any surplus funds,” she said, adding the council should be able to control and invest that money. “We’re the only entity that can borrow.”
Last month the School Committee moved to use a big chunk of its unrestricted surplus funds when it unanimously approved a $2.6 million capital improvement plan project to replace the boilers in all the schools and to making lighting improvements.
Of that total, an estimated $2.08 million in accumulated fund surplus will be used to fund the project. The rest would come from potential National Grid and Rhode Island Public Energy Partnership rebates (about $300,000 and $75,000, respectively) and leftover town warrant funds (about $147,000 that must be expended by Aug. 1 and used for Melville School only).
Work will begin at the elementary schools this summer, and at the middle and high schools during the next school year.
The schools are also requesting that the town borrow $471,500 under its capital improvement plan for additional repairs to school buildings. This figure was questioned by council member Joseph Robicheau, who said he wanted the schools to apply $200,000 in surplus funds to lessen the amount the town would need to borrow.
School Committee member John Wojichowski, however, said the district would like to keep that money for any unforeseen projects that may arise, such as playground repairs or other matters. Mr. Robicheau countered that fixing a playground was not an emergency situation, and that it should come under the school’s regular maintenance budget anyway.
Mr. Fitzmorris also said it was fair to ask the schools to dip into their surplus to lessen the burden on taxpayers. “When they come across the street and ask the council to spend $471,500 … I think it’s appropriate to ask what they have in reserves,” he said.
Mr. Wojichowski said the committee recently voted to limit its surplus for any year to 1.5 percent of its total budget — down from 3 percent. Any amount over the 1.5 percent, he assured the council, would revert back to capital improvements and therefore save the town money on borrowing.