SOPERTON, Ga. — Right now, Treutlen County officials say they don't want to burden their taxpayers by adding a second set of ambulance employees for the county. At the same time, they acknowledge that only having two ambulance workers on staff is a problem.
Earlier this month, we spoke with a family whose daughter died after waiting over an hour for an ambulance.
Phil Jennings IV is a county commissioner and the commissioner chairman who joined the commissioners about two-and-a-half years ago.
"A second ambulance would be amazing," Jennings said. "I mean, it's not anything that we're opposed to, it's just trying to find a way to fund it efficiently that it doesn't throw the entire burden back onto the property owner in the county."
Right now, the county pays for two full-time ambulance staffers. County Attorney James Garner said to pay for a second set of staff, they'd have to raise the millage rate by 2.25 points.
"That number is what it is. And that is $450,000 on top of what we are currently paying in the current budget," Garner said.
That's about $90 for the owner of a $100,000 home. Jennings said he doesn't think people can afford that, especially after they raised the millage rate one point last year.
"I was pretty well crucified, just to put it lightly," Jennings said. "It was the first time this county had seen a millage rate increase in over 20 years."
Garner said between a decreasing population, inflation, COVID-19 and Hurricane Helene, Treutlen County's funding is very tight.
"We're at a finely-balanced point right now, that you would take and add another almost 10% of our county budget back onto," Garner said.
Jennings said if he hears that people want to raise their taxes to pay for a second ambulance staff, he would hear them out.
"I would absolutely bring it up to the board but on a personal level, I would love to find a solution that did not involve taxes coming out of the tax base of this county," Jennings said.
He said he's working to explore other options, like finding grants, and talking to legislators about their ambulance problem.
Jennings said they operate on a mutual-aid agreement with other surrounding counties, which means they can request an ambulance from another county if theirs is being used. However, he said it's not a dependable system, because the surrounding counties also have an ambulance shortage.
Garner also provided us this statement below:
"The Treutlen County Board of Commissioners is charged with the duty of operating Treutlen County’s government in a manner that maximizes the services the county can provide in keeping with its available resources. The topic of a second full-time ambulance being provided by the county has been discussed for some time by the Commissioners due to the strain caused by servicing the entire County and City of Soperton with one ambulance, especially considering the outsized impact caused by wrecks along Interstate 16 as it passes through the County. However, no proposal or study has discovered a means to provide a second ambulance which would cost less than approximately $450,000.00 additional yearly costs to Treutlen County’s taxpayers.
In the fiscal year 2023-2024, the Commissioners struggled with how to balance Treutlen County’s budget while simply maintaining its current levels of service, a problem brought on by of the skyrocketing costs of goods and services due to inflation. After exploring every way to cut costs, the Commissioners were forced to levy a tax increase of one (1) mils, equaling $138,845 in new revenue, to balance the budget. This tax increase was met with significant opposition by the citizens of the County. In order to cover $450,000.00 in costs for a second ambulance, taxes would have to be increased by two and one-quarter (2.25) mils under the County’s current valuations. At this juncture, that is simply unacceptable to the Commissioners or a majority of the County’s citizens, especially with the uncertainty of the impact on Treutlen County’s tax base by the massive damages cause by Hurricane Helene.
The inability to fund a second ambulance at this time does not mean the Commissioners are ignoring the subject. Hurricane Helene has furthered efforts already in process to increase efficiencies and cut costs through Treutlen County and the City of Soperton working more closely together on public safety issues. Additionally, the County is doubling down its efforts to seek grants and increased revenues to increase resources on all fronts.
Along with all other County income and expenditures, the topic of a second ambulance will be reviewed again as the Commissioners prepare the County’s budget for the 2024-2025 fiscal year. All of Treutlen County’s citizens are encouraged to participate in the budget process, share their priorities, and offer realistic solutions to the challenges the Commissioners have to address."