Moriah Ambulance Squad seeking tax district formation

MORIAH | Moriah is the latest town to join the emergency medical service crisis that has affected the entire North Country. With volunteerism way down and rising exorbitant operational costs, the ambulance squad that serves all five hamlets has officially petitioned for the formation of an EMS District with the town. "The amount of hours and training mandated by New York State that people have to go through just isn't feasible in today's day and age," noted Town Supervisor, Matt Brassard. "People are having to work overtime at their regular jobs to be able to pay their bills and live the life they want to be able to live, and then strap on hundreds of hours of training, it is not obtainable for many people." Mike Moran, Rescue Captain and EMT for 35 years, said that the lack of volunteerism leaves no other recourse but to resort to a paid staff, and also the price of medical equipment is forcing the squad to seek a district to be able to continue to deliver the quality of care residents are accustomed to. "Every agency in the county has gone to paid staff," he explained. "With the amount of paid staff and the cost of supplies and products you need to keep functioning and be able to serve your community efficiently and professionally, without the tax district there is no way you would be able to. Nothing is getting cheaper in today's world, medical stuff is outrageous." Supervisor Brassard revealed that the ambulance squad went from averaging about 450 calls a year to responding to 600 in 2023. "That's a significant jump," he acknowledged. Moran said that for the month of January, 44 calls were responded to with 38 more in February, and that during the busy summer months, they sometimes have three or four calls happening simultaneously. The Town of Moriah Ambulance Squad has been sustaining off of billing revenue, their contract with the town, and donations. Thanks in part to inflation, as well as low Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rates, revenue from billing is at an all-time low. An equipment upgrade has not happened since 2016, and their current housing is far from adequate, being housed in a 20x20 room inside the Moriah Fire Department. With increased 24/7 staffing residing there, the situation has outgrown its feasibility. "The new station would be right across the road from the Moriah Fire House," Moran said, adding that the building is in its very infancy of development. "We purchased the property from a local resident at a very fair price. We have 24-hour staff so we need a kitchen and a shower and living accommodations- we need a proper facility that would be adequate to operate under the Department of Health. We have a guy that stays there three days a week and there's nothing there for him." In the 2024 ambulance squad budget, total expenses numbered $221,855. The ambulance squad has published their proposed 2025 budget, with total expenses calculated to be $558,750. $220,000 is expected to be recovered in billing, and another $20,000 anticipated in donations, leaving a tax district levy of $318,750. "The increase for proposed budget is for two more paid EMTs and then they have a new ambulance they will have to start paying for, and also for the new building they want to build," Brassard said. According to Brassard, the Town of Moriah gives the ambulance squad a portion of their town budget, around $50,000-$60,000 a year (which equates to roughly $25-$30 per $100,000), and if the supervisor has anything to say about it, that will never change. "I intend to leave that money in there when I go to do my yearly budget, unless the districts forms and they have set their own budget," he assured. "I would never remove it and I don't think any of my board members would cut funding to the ambulances squad- I can't see that ever happening with myself or the current board." That is a drastic diversion from Moriah's neighbor to the south, Ticonderoga, who is also in the midst of their own EMS crisis. The Town of Ticonderoga allotted their EMS 0 dollars in the 2024 budget, though they have agreed to float them $70,000 on a reimbursable basis until their district can be formed (pending voter approval, of course). "It will not last three months, we are roughly at $50,000 already," revealed Renee Kennedy, Operations Manager for Ti. We are already at almost 200 calls for the year and it's only March." Though talk of a crucial need for a Ti district has been circulating for well over a year in Ti, Supervisor Mark Wright said that the town is still in the process of creating its own map plan report. As of now, the first step towards Moriah's district formation has been fulfilled with a map plan and report submitted with the town clerk, with the town board needing to accept the plan and report, which Brassard expects will happen this month. Two public hearings will follow, and a few board members are already considering putting the district formation up for vote on November's ballot. "I agree it should be a town-wide vote," the supervisor said, adding that he and the board want full transparency and want to hear from residents. "So far what what I have heard from people, it is positive, people seem to have no problem paying $130 for an ambulance; the ambulance is sometimes a matter of life or death. If you don't have that ambulance running toward your house within a couple minutes of being called, that can be the difference in surviving a heart attack or stroke and not. If we don't have those paid staff that are right there and can go in two minutes as opposed to 20, you are playing with people's lives unfortunately." With the current funding model, the squad has enough funding to last another year to a year and a half, but if a district fails to be formed, the ramifications aren't pretty, to say the least. Staffing would have to be reduced, and that could potentially lead to delayed response times. "We would have to look towards Lamoille Ambulance Services to see what they would contract with the town, but that is not a route that I want to go to," Brassard admitted. "I want to have our ambulance and our local people responding in their community." "Right now, our EMS has a seven to 10 minute response time," Moran said. "Contracting out could lead to 20-minute response times." To see the proposed 2025 Moriah EMS budget in its entirety, please visit www.facebook.com/moriahems. The public is welcome and encouraged to drop into the station at any time to tour the facilities, ambulances, and to ask questions. "I can guarantee someone in your life is going to need the Moriah ambulance at some point in their life," Brassard said. "Do you really want to take that chance if we contract out and it's a 15 minute response time? I don't like playing with people's chances of survival in an emergency situation like that. It's not right."

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Moriah Ambulance Squad seeking tax district formation

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