City, county reluctantly agree
on payments for emergency services
Rockbridge County and the City of Lexington have finally worked out an agreement to reimburse one another for joint fire and rescue emergency services.
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| Emergency services between the City of Lexington and Rockbridge County often overlap. The Lexington Fire Department responds to more calls from Rockbridge County. (CLAUDIA VINCENTI / Rockbridge Report) |
It is an agreement, however, that neither the Lexington City Council nor the Rockbridge County Board of Supervisors eagerly endorsed. Both governing bodies regard the agreement that will apply to the next three fiscal years as a temporary solution. They hope that a plan for regionalized emergency services will be in the works by the end of the 2011 fiscal year.
During the City Council meeting Nov. 20, Lexington City Manager Jon Ellestad presented the agreement as one that did not thrill either party. “It is a short-term solution at best,” he said.
His sentiments were echoed Nov. 24 by the Board of Supervisors. “While it’s not the perfect or final solution, it gives us three years so we can move on with the business of organizing our fire and rescue operations,” says Supervisor Carroll Comstock.
Lexington City Council members reluctantly endorsed the agreement unanimously but let their lack of enthusiasm show throughout the meeting. The Supervisors approved the agreement by a 3-1 vote with Supervisor Rusty Ford voting against the measure. Supervisor Mark Smith was absent.
During the last fiscal year, the Lexington Fire Department responded to 560 calls, more than half of which were in Rockbridge County. The Lexington Lifesaving and First Aid Crew answered 1,788 calls, of which 1,078 were made in the county.
The agreement calls for the county to compensate the city for all eligible expenses of the city’s fire department and rescue squad. The payment is based on the percentage of calls each city department responds to in the county, compared to their total number of calls. Eligible expenses are defined in the agreement as all operating costs, excluding personnel costs and capital expenses of more than $5,000. If any county fire department or rescue squad responds to an emergency in the city, that call will be deducted from the number of county calls made by either Lexington fire or rescue.
The agreement also defines a maximum annual payment from the county to the city, based on the 2007 fiscal year. The cap is set at $108,750 for the fire department and $110,959.68 for the rescue squad. The cap is one of the big concerns City Council members have about the agreement.
“If expenses get any higher than the cap, then it will fall upon the city to cover the costs,” said Councilman Jim Gianniny. “Ultimately, we’ll be facing the same problems we always have with our current emergency service system. … I think we all, Council and Supervisors, agree that what we really need is a new system.”
Both Lexington City Council and Rockbridge County Board of Supervisors agree that the measure does not completely meet the needs of either the city or the county, but a compromise by both parties was necessary.
“Not coming to an agreement, whatever the shortcomings of it are, reflects a lack of leadership,” said Supervisor Bruce Lewis. Lewis seems to reflect the sentiments of both governing bodies when he said that “at this point, it’s the best deal we have."
Produced by
Washington and Lee
journalism students.
Lead Supervisors:
Prof. Brian
Richardson
Prof. Indira Somani
Editing supervisor:
Prof. Doug
Cumming
Technical supervisor: Michael Todd