Port rolls out pitch for EMS referendum

PORT WASHINGTON - A smattering of people attended the City of Port Washington’s first informational meeting on its upcoming referendum last week, and officials are hoping that the attendance is an indication that residents realize the need to increase the tax levy to bolster the ranks of the city’s paramedics.

The tone was largely positive, but residents asked about everything, including the need to respond to senior living facilities to help lift patients who have fallen to alternative ways to fund the service.

“I think the people who came were well informed already,” Ald. Jonathan Pleitner said. “I thought it was a good discussion. We got our story told.”

Ald. Deb Postl said she was a little disappointed in the turnout but hopes that more people will attend the second meeting on the referendum, which is set for 1 p.m. Monday, March 11, at the Niederkorn Library’s community room.

But, Postl added, many people rely on the internet to get information, so the fact the session was taped and will be shown online may be a benefit.

The referendum asks residents to increase the tax levy by $1.175 million annually so the city can retain its three full-time paramedic/firefighters and hire an additional six full-timers to ensure the ambulance is staffed around the clock.

The cost to residents is estimated to be $91 per $1,000 assessed valuation, or $213.85 for the owner of an average house valued at $235,000.

The hour-long meeting, which was twice punctuated by the sound of sirens as ambulances passed the library enroute to calls, was the city’s first chance to tell people about the need for additional paramedics.

The city is at a crossroads, officials said, faced with an aging senior population, a limit on how much it can tax and an increasing need for emergency services.

“We were making it work on a shoestring budget for a very long time,” Joe DeBoer, the deputy fire chief and emergency medical services director, said.

Calls for service in the city increased 53% from 2012 to 2022, he said, “and there’s no sign of that slowing.”

Last year, DeBoer noted, the department responded to 1,885 calls. By 2032 that number is expected to increase to about 3,000 calls.

“That’s impossible to do with our current staffing levels,” he said.

The old model of relying on volunteers to staff the ambulance no longer works because people are too busy to offer their time, officials said.

The city has hired three full-time paramedics during the past year or so, he said, but the funding came from the American Rescue Plan Act, and that’s going to run out this year.

If approved, the referendum would allow the city to continue funding these positions and add another six paramedics, DeBoer said, enough to ensure the city has round-the-clock ambulance service and can provide coverage when there are two ambulance calls.

There has been a 71% increase in second calls over the past several years, DeBoer said, from 73 in 2019 to 125 in 2023.

“That is not a small number,” he said, adding that the city relied on mutual aid 276 times for these second calls between February 2022 and August 2023.

It would also allow the city to provide these volunteers with time off for vacations, training and other duties, he said.

More staffing means that the ambulance is able to get to calls quicker, DeBoer noted.

In 2022, before the additional paramedics were hired, the city could not staff the ambulance at least six hours a day 42% of the time, he said, adding that on weekends that number increased to 54%.

And the response time in 2022 was about 13 minutes, he said, compared to six minutes, 42 seconds today.

Several residents asked about alternative funding opportunities. City Finance Director Mark Emanuelson said there aren’t grants available to cover the cost, but those wouldn’t be a reliable way to fund the positions.

The city considered consolidating with another department, he added, but “it was determined it was not in the best interests of the city,” he added.

Stewart Seidel suggested the city consider reducing the number of police officers and use the savings to pay for the ambulance crew.

“Is that a possibility? Has that been looked at? There are more cops in this town than you can shake a stick at,” he said.

DeBoer said the Police Department follows protocols in determining staffing levels, adding that in an emergency the same rule applies to police as to the ambulance — “When you need a cop, you need a cop,” he said.

Noting that other departments in the area are also going to referendum to raise money to hire more paramedics, Kendel Fielen asked how the city could draw these workers — especially given that there’s a shortage right now.

“It’s going to be a very competitive market,” DeBoer said.

If the referendum passes, prospective workers will see that the community supports them, he said, and the additional positions will offer them professional growth opportunities.