Franklin may use sales tax to fund ambulances

Franklin County taxpayers may see a sharper drop in their ad valorem millage next week, as the county has secured permission from the two cities to fund its ambulance service out of monies in its health care trust fund.

The county commission has hoped for several months to use a portion of its proceeds from its one-cent sales tax, earmarked its health care fund, to fund the ambulance service, which is currently paid for out of ad valorem proceeds.

But the sticking point has been sales taxes collected in the two municipalities, which are earmarked for the trust fund through a pair of interlocal agreements adopted by both cities when voters first approved the once-cent healthcare sales tax about 15 years ago.

Those agreements did not allow for funding the ambulance, and so a modification has to be done.

Franklin County Commission Chair Ricky Jones appeared before both city commissions earlier this month, and both bodies voted unanimously to OK the modification.

As a result, the county commission is preparing to shave about a quarter-mill off of its proposed 5.4546 mills when it meets Sept. 17 for its second and final budget hearing. Jones said he is expecting the commission to lower its millage to at least 5.222, since the roughly $764,000 annual cost of the ambulance will no longer be borne by ad valorem taxes.

Each year the sales tax collects more than $3 million, this past year about $3.5 million, and gives about $1.5 million to Weems Memorial Hospital for operations. That amount is expected to remain with the proposed change, as will the $120,000 given to fund the two Weems clinics.

The rest of the sales tax money will continue to go towards building up the capital outlay funds, which have grown steadily to where there is now about $13 million in the coffers,

But next year’s capital outlay monies will drop by about $764,000 since those funds will be used to fund the ambulance service.

Jones has stressed that no decision has yet been made on whether the county will build a new hospital, renovate the existing one or switch to a rural emergency hospital model (REH) that would put an end to inpatient beds in exchange for an enhanced, and subsidized, state-of-the-art emergency room.

The county has enlisted the services of healthcare consultant Baker-Tilley to address the viability of these options through a financial analysis and operational performance review.

“Based on the results of this review, they will be recommending a management action plan, and will be working with the county to execute it,” said Jones.