BUCYRUS—Bucyrus City Fire Chief Chad Schwemley spoke to the Bucyrus City Council Finance Committee during the special meeting held yesterday at 4 pm in council chambers.
Chief Schwemley told the committee that he was in favor of pursuing all avenues to generate revenue for the city. He told council that his budget shortfall was mainly because the subsidies he expected for taking over the EMS were not paid to him but were diverted to the general fund to balance this year’s budget.
When the fire department took over EMS operations in November of 2021, they did so with an expectation of $178,000.00 in subsidies that they did not receive.
EMS made 2810 runs. Projected billing for those services were to come in at around $400,000 with an expected subsidy of $178,000 Previously the city had paid about $125,000 in subsidies for the ambulance service.
“In hiring people I should have seen an over $700,000 difference in my budget for the fire department that I have not received. The money that was brought in was used to balance the general budget for this year. So in reference to this year’s upcoming budget, fire needs an additional $300,000 to continue providing the services they provide,” Schwemley said.
He told council that he couldn’t cut further. Besides completing his other duties as the Chief, he himself is on the truck. He operates three separate two-person crews.
“If I can’t operate those crews some people will see a 20 to 30-minute delay on EMS services,” Schwemley said.
Twenty percent of all calls are multiple calls occurring at the same time. The majority of calls need more than two people to assist with things like lifting persons onto stretchers.
“Promises were made to us with taking over EMS in that we were going to get the funding we needed to provide the service.” Schwemley noted.
Schwemley told the committee that they were made the same promise when the Fire and Safety levy passed in 2012 as well.
“It’s never been enough money to sustain the police and fire. It’s been kicked down the road because nobody wants to do it. The main thing that needs to be discussed is why this is the only stop gap measure viable for the time being. Annexation only takes money from the townships that need it. There’s a fight no matter where we go,” Schwemley said.
City Auditor Joyce Schiefer told the committee: “ There are lots of other things to look at and I know the Chief feels we have shorted him. We kind of just disagree on that.“
Schiefer said she looked at the anticipated revenue to hire the six firefighters. She said the six they brought in cost more than was brought in from anticipated revenue. Subsidies are not as much as they predicted.
Residents don’t get an ambulance bill from the city. Because taxes subsidize ambulance runs for citizens, the city only gets whatever insurance pays. Schiefer said the city uses a billing service to bill and collect those monies.
In a letter to the committee, Bucyrus Police Chief Neil Assenheimer told the committee that, like everything else, the cost of law enforcement has gone up:
“Bucyrus pays officers less than surrounding communities. The tax credit reduction is not new to the citizens of Bucyrus. Citizens need to ask themselves what kind of services do they want to receive. Bucyrus lost five officers this year to outside agencies. If the city of Bucyrus does not find some way to pay its police officers more competitively, it only makes sense that Bucyrus Police officers will seek employment elsewhere in higher paying jobs where they are waiting with open arms to receive them in their departments, “Assenheimer wrote.
Assenheimer said it’s difficult to maintain 24-hour coverage with the staff they have, and there’s overtime pay every day.
No one wants to pay more taxes including me. I also understand that if I want certain services then I have to pay for them. The only way to pay for more police services is to collect more money. Reducing the tax credit is a way to do that. It’s being done in neighboring counties,” Assenheimer concluded.
Crawford County Now will continue to cover these developing issues.