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Show Alternatives Needs By TOM BUSSELBERG FARMINGTON - Taking funding and operational control for the paramedics out of the Sheriff's office could mean more out-of-pocket expense for the average taxpayer. tax-payer. KEEPING THE program where it is will mean merely a transfer of funds rather an an actual tax increase, County Com. Harry Gerlach says. Currently, two paramedics vehicles serve the county with units assigned to each end. Personnel are trained as paramedics and serve double duty as 2henrT$ deputies when not needed for medical emergencies. Were the March 2 election asking voters to approve a separate (but not additional) mill levy to fail, two alternatives, othe Sabt,onoftheserviceentirely'are INTERLOCAL control would involve Xa?isTSrngt0f0rmase citv woiilH m mo and 0rem- Ea city would need one vehicle and 11 or 12 men to operate it 24 hours a day and provide pro-vide necessary backup for vacations s k- ne"r bur ' C0m' Gerlach "Planed . That would total $406,199 for accessor jes traimng and the paramedic staSg An ctkShr"1 CUld include "5 e b! flZ Id mPa h f SUth Sharin8 the co m . an vanous citi would have fIefor1 t0 11,6 y miU 'evies jl FR servi could be tried, as well and has been ,n use in Weber County with a lowlevelofsuccess.Asrx.kespersonTnthe Sy?0 ffice' sayVon USvS. rCentreturao" billing is being Voters there will have the chance to au-mSw au-mSw INTERLOCAL agreements were first used in 1974 in both Salt Lake Corf;;' Weber County when private arnb' firms offered the service. It would be impossible in Davis Co--to utilize ambulance services to anyfc because of the volunteer status in county, Com. Gerlach said. "Maui" present ambulance services are mad-very mad-very dedicated people. But if e' ' ever to assume paramedics it wo'; . taking six months full-time training , i tually living at Weber State College'1 ; period. ! UNDER A pay-for-services systec- , as Weber County has used, in!"; would pay for services provided s steps, explained Jan Buttrey, ; Front regional coordinator for the - , of Emergency Medical Services. The two-tiered fee schedule inclu ; minimum for the transportation i ' sponse by ambulance and that cj up to $100 depending on what typ tional services are needed, such as ' port. In addition, $82 a call maxin by the state for ambulance plus $5 at , set Jan. 5, she said. flj.:-f i WEBER COUNTY residents oRf; f aware their insurance may pa)? c medics, although rates must be ffj Com. Gerlach says "either wfl'jn work to make them operational , 5 present county setup under the ' 5 office "the most economical." C BY PUTTING a separate m force for the program, under a eight tenths percent would be Jof to operate unless the county PC j "phenominal growth," he added- J Except for Salt Lake and WW;. J ties , other areas of the state enjoy i no paramedic service. In Utah Con" Continued oflPj Alternatives Weeded Continued from page 2 ramedics operate only in Provo and Orem. That setup doesn't allow response to other cities, such as Springville or American Fork, both considerably larger in population popula-tion than Kaysville, for instance. IF EACH city were to operate the paramedics para-medics separately, that would mean multiplying multi-plying that eight tenths mill levy many times to meet the needs of individual cities or portions of the county. Of the additional paramedics needed to bring the service up to state standards of two paramedics per vehicle at all times, bringing the force to 22, the training and salaries for ten will come from the Sheriffs budget while 12 will be financed through the mill levy. But the paramedics mill levy monies would merely include some funds transferred from the current Sheriffs budget, Mr. Gerlach emphasizes. "THERE WILL be no increase in taxes. We're just shifting. The mill levy will be listed separately (on tax notices)" and that may raise a question in people's minds, he said. That zero percent tax increase assumes continued four-five percent growth in the county and no need for a third paramedic vehicle for possibly another decade or 15 years. |