The Seminole County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) is reportedly considering a proposal to drastically reduce the amount the Seminole Ambulance Service receives from the countywide Emergency Services Tax.

As reported in the May 9 edition of the Seminole Producer, the BOCC recently called an election for June 8 for the extension of the quarter-cent sales tax, which helps fund ambulance services and fire departments throughout the county. That election has apparently been cancelled due to the omission of the Seminole Fire Department on the ballot, which County Clerk Valarie Hogue attributed to a clerical error.

According to the agenda for the Monday, May 24 BOCC meeting, the commissioners will consider a resolution and proclamation for the Emergency Services Sales Tax and the approval of a county question for its renewal.

During the 15-year existence of the Emergency Services Sales Tax, the ambulance (EMS) portion of the tax has been distributed to the fire departments based upon the number of ambulance runs each department makes. Several sources have reported that, under the new proposal, each of the three ambulance systems (Konawa, Seminole and Wewoka) will receive one third of the ambulance tax, regardless of how many calls they make.

“If the reports are true, Seminole will be cut by $66,000 per year while everyone else in the county gets increases. That $66,000 per year would buy three ambulances over the five-year sales tax,” Saxon said. “It is unclear the path the county commissioners are taking, but we know 57 percent of the entire county residences are in Seminole’s ambulance district. Those citizens will see less service if this proposal goes through as planned. We also know the people of Seminole County rely on Seminole often. We regularly loan ambulances to other Seminole County services. Plus, just last week we ran on three emergency ambulance calls in Konawa because Ada’s service, who gets paid to run those calls, didn’t have the staff on hand to respond. That is a lot of wear and tear on ambulances, not to mention the staff time,” Saxon added.

(Note: Saxon provided the Producer with a graphic that details the ambulance service areas and the number of runs each department made in 2020, which is displayed below this article).

“We firmly believe that we are all partners in providing care for Seminole County’s people. But this sends the opposite message to Seminole’s Ambulance district. This would be a direct punch in the mouth rather than a gut punch,” Saxon said. “If this goes in place as planned, citizens in Little, Bowlegs, Maud, New Lima, Varum, Noble Town, Wolf and Seminole will see a serious decline in ambulance service. We cannot run 3,000 calls a year on dirt roads and transport patients to Seminole and Oklahoma City hospitals if we are not replacing ambulances regularly. The people of Seminole’s District depend upon the emergency services tax to buy those ambulances.”

According to Saxon, Seminole EMS received $152,473 from the tax in 2020, $14,436 of which went to the fire department and $138,037 to the ambulance service. Saxon projects that under the reported new proposal, Seminole would receive only $86,272 ($57,515 for the ambulance service and $28,757 for the fire department), a cut of $66,201.

Saxon said while Seminole would see a cut, Wewoka EMS would receive $2,818 over what it did in 2020 and Konawa EMS would realize a 52 percent increase over the previous year. Non-ambulance rural fire departments at Strother, Sasakwa, Cromwell, Maud, Bowlegs will each see $14,321 above the 2020 amounts, according to Saxon.

“The bottom line is that what used to buy ambulances, equipment and personnel will no longer be available. In simpler terms, Seminole will lose the ability to buy three ambulances over the next five years. This may lead to cutting services to afford to keep functional ambulances,” Saxon said.

“Fifteen years ago, Seminole agreed that our rural fire departments needed more help than they were getting from the state. And even after we saw Cadillac Escalades, big screen TV’s and recliners being purchased, we didn’t abandon them,” Saxon said. “But this kind of a cut, if true, could seriously cost lives. We are hoping the commissioners will reconsider.”

The BOCC is slated to meet Monday at 9 a.m. at the Seminole County Courthouse in Wewoka. All county commissioner and related meetings are open to the public.