Town feels the pinch of city’s paramedic hiring initiative

Town of Port Washington officials approved a $697,200 budget for 2025 that Town Chairman Mike Didier said was similar to last year’s budget with one exception — the cost of providing fire and ambulance services.

The town contracts with the City of Port Washington for fire and ambulance services, and the cost for the town is increasing 51%, from $117,000 for 2024 to $176,660.

The biggest reason for that, officials said, is the city’s recent decision to hire six additional full-time firefighter/paramedics.

Town Chairman Mike Didier said the board anticipated an increase, but had only expected the total to be about $140,000.

“We saw the writing on the wall,” Didier said.

To make up the gap between what they expected and what they’re being charged, the board took $25,000 from its Town Hall improvements budget and applied it to the fire contract, he said.

The town’s cost for the fire department is based on a decades-old formula that takes into account the town’s equalized valuation, the fire department budget, debt service and the cost of maintaining and replacing equipment and facilities.

The town also pays $150 for each ambulance call in the township, he said, as well as the cost of water and labor for fires.

Of the fire department’s $925,000 budget, Didier said, the town is paying roughly 18%.

Given the fact the city is planning to construct a $33.5 million public safety building during the next two years, that cost is bound to increase even more, Didier said.

“We can’t pay 18% of their budget anymore,” he said. “Our entire levy is only a half-million dollars.”

He recently met with Interim Fire Chief Joe DeBoer and City Administrator Melissa Pingel and told them that, Didier said.

“We’re all on the same page that it doesn’t work,” he said. “The next question is what does work.”

And that is something that will be investigated before next year’s budget is compiled, he said.

“It’s all on the table,” Didier said.

The 2025 town budget is supported by a levy of $485,213, up slightly from this year’s levy of $484,400.

To raise that, the tax levy is expected to be $1.95 per $1,000 assessed valuation.

Town Clerk Heather Krueger noted that it’s getting more difficult to make ends meet each year.

“As things are going up in price, we’re going to have a tough time with our levy limit,” she said. “Our big expenses just keep getting bigger.”

Those expenses, Didier said, are roads and the fire contract.

“At some point, it doesn’t work,” he said.

The levy and budget were approved during a special public hearing and budget meeting Wednesday, Nov. 20. The only people attending were Didier, Town Supr. Gary Schlenvogt, Town Treasurer Mary Sampont and Krueger.