Funding emergency functions at local fire departments

MISSOULA COUNTY - Residents have publicly questioned Seeley Lake Rural Fire District's methods of garnering revenue at fire board meetings since the District voted to charge for fire and accident response in July, 2019. Some have also compared fees charged between Seeley's services and Swan Valley's. 

Even though both fire districts operate in Missoula County, comparing them is like comparing apples to oranges. Property owners within the District pay an annual tax for fire service based on property value and are charged a fee if they use the service. Swan Valley residents pay an annual flat fee per residence and there is no additional charge for a response.

Seeley Lake Rural Fire District

The Seeley Lake Rural Fire District provides a Basic Life Support (BLS) ambulance service with an Advanced Life Support (ALS) endorsement. This means the department can only provide ALS when Seeley Lake Fire Chief Dave Lane is providing care since he is the only certified paramedic in the Department. The Department volunteers also respond to wildland and structure fires within the District.

Seeley Lake's call volume nearly doubled from 169 calls in 2005 to 332 in 2017, the highest number of calls since 2005. While the call volume dropped to 261 in 2018, they rose to 305 in 2019 and 307 in 2020.

Lane estimated that 90-95% of the calls they receive are intended for EMS services and a small percentage of these require ALS.

All residents in the District are charged an annual tax based on property value. A home valued at $200,000 would pay approximately $75 annually for fire service. In the 2020 fiscal year (FY), $209,726 was collected in taxes. The District estimates that they will collect $244,824 in taxes for the 2021 FY.

In July, 2019, the Fire Board voted to charge mitigation rates for fire and rescue emergency and non-emergency services including motor vehicle incidents, HAZMAT response, fires, illegal burns, water rescue and backcountry or special rescue. Lane said rates are under what insurance companies have set aside to pay for these types of emergency responses. The insurance companies are the ones billed and District Board Chair Scott Kennedy said the fees are minimal depending on the type of response. As with the ambulance fees, the Board can be petitioned for relief.

When the board asked Lane about charging an additional fee for a service that people pay taxes for, he said they either need to charge a fee or increase taxes. 

"The taxes that you pay right now pay for wages, benefits, equipment but it doesn't pay for the actual on scene work or the service," Lane said at the July board meeting. "We are holding to a pretty high standard and in order to provide the services that the community deserves, we are going to bill so that we can provide that service."

While the fee for fire response is relatively new, according to Kennedy, the District has always billed for its ambulance services. He has served the District since 2000 and remembers the last mill levy taking place in 1996.

When someone requires an ambulance, the District charges a base rate fee-for-service of $600 for BLS and $700 - $750 for ALS. There is also a fee of $20 per mile if the patient is transported in the ambulance. 

Lane said the majority of the patients can be transported all the way to Missoula via the Seeley Lake ambulance. If a patient's injury or condition is severe enough, then they may have Life Flight transport patients to Missoula. This service has its own set of fees.

"We try not to use [Life Flight] to keep them available for other calls," he said. "If it's a life threatening emergency or they're going to lose a limb, then absolutely. We try and measure the time between their estimated time of arrival and how long it would take us to get to the hospital. If it's feasible to use the helicopter we'll do it."

Lane said service fees are used to pay for operations, ambulance upkeep, mileage, equipment and supplies. The District purchases their equipment through the state to have the most purchasing power but their main intention is spending money as responsibly as possible. Last year the District spent nearly $1,920 on equipment maintenance. 

In the 2020 FY, the District brought in $437,911.14 in revenue. This includes the existing county fire taxation and almost $80,000 more than what was budgeted, through grant money, including nearly $75,000 for a new exhaust collection system and funding from fighting wildland fires. The District also changed its billing company early in 2020 after Kennedy noted it appeared the previous company lost the District tens of thousands of dollars annually in potential revenue.

This past December, the District also received grants totaling more than $76,000 through the CARES Act and Rural Fire Capacity (RFC) Program.

In addition to a paid fire chief/paramedic, district administrator/EMT and a maintenance person/EMT, Seeley Lake's District supports two fire stations, two ambulances and eight apparatus including two utility vehicles.

Kennedy said the acquisition of Fire Station #2, north of Seeley Lake on Highway 83, has an estimated $500,000 net asset to the District and will be paid off in approximately three-four years. It will continue to generate $25,000-$30,000 a year in revenue. This gives the District other financial fiscal options without a mill levy and provides additional station resources.

Lane said there is a perception that because it is a volunteer department, little expense goes towards personnel. However the District pays over $1,000 a month in insurance per volunteer and spent nearly $93,160 in employee wages for the chief, district administrator and maintenance person in the 2020 FY.

Kennedy said finding volunteer firefighters and EMTs is one of the biggest challenges. Lane eventually hopes to hire additional certified paramedics.

"We're having such a hard time as the rest of the country with volunteerism," Lane said. "What I would like to do is be able to hire three firefighter paramedics that could provide Advanced Life Support 24/7 and I don't have to be the only paramedic available in the district."

Kennedy said if volunteers continue to be limited, the District may propose a mill levy to fund additional personnel in the future. This will be reviewed closer this year and going forward with public comments welcome.

District taxpayers must also vote on all mill levy increases approved by the board. Kennedy said a mill levy increase has not been asked of the voters because the District did not want to financially burden taxpayers or felt it was necessary.

Kennedy said there are several reasons the Board has continued billing for services rendered instead of increasing taxes.

First, it would be unfair for those who do not use the services. For those who do require ambulance and fire services, their insurance companies, Medicare and Medicaid often take on the brunt of transportation costs.

Second, the District would not be able to forgive tax debts for those needing financial relief and potentially for those who need services the most. Right now, someone can petition the Board for debt forgiveness.

Third, only those who own property in the District would pay for the service.

"The mill levy essentially is picked up by the local taxpayer and not the party needing the medical services transiting our District or even outside our District," Kennedy said. "That does not seem fair."

Finally, Kennedy said it doesn't feel right that patients would still be billed if they used another ambulance service or air service on top of the taxes they pay. According to him, the District has been able to operate without a specific ambulance mill levy, even with more calls coming in and more apparatuses purchased.

He said the current revenue structure provides building necessities, overhead, supplies and maintenance upkeep. It can also make up for any shortfalls when needed and can provide ambulance debt relief to those in need.

"While providing service to everyone, it is my opinion that keeping the current fee structure in place is more cost effective for our community and allows flexibility," Kennedy said. 

Swan Valley Emergency Services

Swan Valley Emergency Services (SVES) based out of Condon is a fully volunteer department that responds to an average of 60 calls per year. They are funded through a fee-based revenue that is managed by the Swan Valley Fire Service Area.

The Swan Valley Fire Service Area includes properties in Missoula and Lake Counties. SVES relies heavily on private ambulance services out of Missoula and Kalispell along with Life Flight and Alert for transportation to primary care facilities outside of the Swan Valley. 

Condon Fire Chief Randy Williams said an annual $75 fee is applied to every residence in their jurisdiction in both Lake and Missoula County. As reported to the state for the 2020 FY, they received $50,000 from Missoula County property owners and $12,000 from Lake County property owners within their service area. While SVES does not charge an additional fee for responding, if a patient requires transport by another service they are subject to that provider's cost.

Before the $75 fee was enacted in 2003, the services were run exclusively on donations. SVES Medical Chief Tori Matthew said during this time the department "frequently had to cinch up their belt to pay the bills." With the present fee structure, most of the annual SVES budget items are maintained. They try to use most of the donations towards projects that improve the efficiency and safety of their firefighters and EMTs.

"We are very fortunate in that we have and continue to have ... a huge amount of people in this community who donate heavily [and] continually to our efforts," Matthew said. "They are asking us what we need, what we want, what we can use, they come to us, we don't have to go to them. I know, the early years, it was hard, it was rough. We always had to be very cautious of how we spent any money, and that's not to say that we're not cautious now, because we are very frugal with our money."