Editorial: No more free rides

Published on March 14, 2008

The college campuses and the surrounding communities served by the Amherst Fire Department ambulance service do not pay the full cost of ambulance runs. A change in the cost sharing for the ambulance service is needed, and Town Manager Larry Shaffer has begun the process to see that the town gets paid appropriately.

Just as the town is developing reimbursement plans for fire and ambulance services from the University of Massachusetts and the colleges, the surrounding towns must also pay their share. Amherst, with expenditures expected to outrun revenue by almost $2 million for the next year, can no longer afford the ambulance service subsidy to the towns and colleges, estimated at $2.7 million between 2004 and 2007. Hadley happens to pay just over 40 percent of the actual cost of ambulance runs by Amherst, while the others pay between 55 to 80 percent of the cost.

In the simplest terms, according to the town manager, it costs $937 for every ambulance run. This per-call figure is calculated as the $3.54 million budget associated with the ambulance service divided by the 3,780 annual ambulance runs. Reimbursements to Amherst come from insurance, from other third-party payers, from self-pay and from annual appropriations from its neighbors, usually voted for during Town Meeting. Last year, with 972 ambulance calls outside the town, Amherst, after collecting from insurance and other sources, would have taken in an additional $449,641 if it were getting 100 percent reimbursement. Instead, the town only collected an additional $135,080.

When Shaffer realized that there was no formal agreements between Amherst and its neighbors, he set the wheels in motion to establish contracts so Amherst could be reimbursed for services rendered.

To this end, Shaffer sent neighboring towns preliminary proposals last July. Shaffer presented the towns with a choice: either pay actual costs year by year - which in Hadley's case would have meant an increase of 356 percent - or sign a five-year deal that keeps fees the same or near current levels.

Shaffer's hope is to get revenues from these towns as a percentage of total expenses related to the service and to increase from the current average reimbursement of 43 percent to 65 percent by 2010. Tentative agreements have been reached with Pelham, Leverett and Shutesbury, but Hadley is still up in the air as to whether it will continue with Amherst's ambulance service, or whether it will strike out on its own.

Some in town argue that Amherst must collect the full bill. The Amherst Taxpayers for Responsible Change and Select Board member Hwei-Ling Greeney are pressing the case that Amherst be paid in full for its services. Greeney would bring the towns to full reimbursement over the next four fiscal years, with payment increasing 25 percent a year, and payment in full being reached by FY2013.

Shaffer has said that stability and predictability regarding contracted, long-term income to the town is better for all parties.

In our opinion, Shaffer's approach is more financially realistic and also reflects the historic cooperation that has existed between Amherst and surrounding communities. It will immediately improve the financial situation for Amherst without hitting the towns with a crippling cost, and it sets the stage for further negotiations in the years ahead.