New Chickasaw County Ambulance Gets Reduced Funding

The new Chickasaw County county-run ambulance service could start January 1st on shaky financial footing.

During their regular meeting Monday, the Board of Supervisors held a public hearing on transferring money from Rural Service Basic (RSB) to the new Chickasaw County EMS department. The original budget amendment called for moving about $243,000 from RSB to EMS.

Supervisor Jacob Hackman expressed concerns about that amount noting that another transfer will be needed in seven months.

Especially with winter weather an unknown variable, Hackman noted that the RSB cushion is needed for the secondary roads just in case.

Supervisor Chair Matt Kuhn acknowledged that getting the new ambulance service up and running comes with financial unknowns.

After agreeing to trim the RSB transfer to the EMS department by about $71,000, including about $56,000 in payroll, Supervisors voted 3-to-1 to pass the budget amendment of about $172,000 from RSB to EMS with Hackman voting no. Supervisor Jason Byrne was absent as he recovers from knee replacement surgery.