Hospital district will take over EMS for ESD3

The Emergency Services District 3 commissioners decided to turn the City of Edna's emergency medical services to the Jackson County Hospital District as soon as possible. The ESD3 commissioners met at City Hall this evening. The hospital district board of directors will meet on Thursday, Aug. 28 to discuss the situation. The hospital administration has been aware of the possibliltiy of acquiring the EMS and the decision by the ESD means the JCHD board will need to move fast to possibly adjust its tax rate to fund the additional resources needed to cover the Edna ISD. 

On Aug. 20 the Edna City Council voted to turn the paid Edna Fire Department over to the ESD3 on Dec. 31. The contract with the ESD3 expires Sept. 30.

Jake Srp, chairman of the ESD3, told the commissioners he does not plan to go to a fully volunteer fire department. He said he wants to make the transition from the city to the ESD3 as soon as possible, to save from having to pay any more money than neccessary to the city. He said the fire department will have to cut its budget to meet the amount of money available through the ESD3. 

The ESD3 has set a 10 cent per hundred valuation tax that will bring in about $620K. The fire department's budget for 2015/16 was originally $1.1 million, although the budget has been amended several times since it was originally presented to the commissioners and the city.

Kurt Janica, assistant fire chief, said he will have to cut staff, possibly having paid firemen during the week and counting on volunteers to man the station over the weekends.

In addition to personnel, the ESD3 will have to handle all administrative duties for the employees, including payroll, insurance, retirement, etc. 

Janica said he would hold a staff meeting in the morning to discuss the future with the firemen. He said the firefighters would probably have to take salary cuts due to the lower budget. 

A full story will be published in the Sept. 2 issue of the Jackson County Herald-Tribune.