Ambulance Board member explains increase

Funds carry over annually for purchases

of new vehicles

While the Lincoln County Ambulance

budget for 2011-’12 reflects a significant increase in funding

there is a reason, said a Libby Volunteer Ambulance Board

member.

Longtime board member Dick Wernham said

the inflated budget numbers reflect funds — $125,817 — carried over

from the previous year for the sole purpose of purchasing a new

ambulance for Eureka.

“All we receive each year is 5½ mills,

so there’s no way we’re getting that much more money,” Wernham

said. “That number is money in our Machinery Fund to allow for

ambulance purchases.”

Wernham explained a portion of the

Ambulance Fund every year is carried over to the next fiscal year —

in the Machinery Fund — for vehicle purchases. The current funding,

which is nearing $150,000 will allow the Eureka Department to

purchase a new ambulance. Then about every 15 to 18 months, the

other two departments — Libby and Troy — will alternate new

purchases as funds accrue.

“It’s not quite (that) each department

gets a new ambulance every six years, more like every five-(plus),”

Wernham.

For 2010-’12, the budget was $264,582.

For fiscal year 2011-’12, the Ambulance Fund showed $390,399 or

about 47 percent more, of which the increase included dollars from

the Machinery Fund.

After the Eureka purchase this year,

Libby Volunteer Ambulance will be next.

“Troy purchased a new ambulance about

two years ago,” said Lincoln County Clerk Tammy Lauer. “Libby will

get the next ambulance.”

The Troy ambulance cost about $138,000,

Lauer said.

According to the funding breakdown,

Lauer said both Troy and Eureka receive about 30 percent of the

annual Ambulance Fund budget, and, until just years ago, Libby was

getting 40 percent. However, with the blessing of Lincoln County

Commissioners, the LVA agreed to give 6 percent of its funding to

the Fisher River Volunteer Ambulance Service.

Currently, Libby Volunteer Ambulance

has the largest fleet of five ambulances, the oldest being No. 10,

a 1994 model.

“I think we’re getting enough money

from the county,” Wernham said. “We pay for training, insurance and

it buys the ambulances.”

Both Wernham and Lauer agreed the

larger issue these days is getting people to volunteer for

ambulance service.

“The number of volunteers is just not

there like it was,” Lauer said. “We used to have considerably

more.”