Bond Election Information

August 23rd, 2022, is election day.

Bryan County EMS proposed a county-wide bond issue. Below is some general information about the proposed bond and how, if passed, the money will be used.

Error on Informational Mailer

We have identified an error on the informational mailer. The mailer says $21.50 / $1,000. The correct number is $21.51 / $100,000. Please continue reading to see more about how the bond will impact the taxpayer.

Current Facilities

Bryan County EMS has operated its headquarters out of these facilities since 1996. We have remodeled, rearranged, and we have added on in whatever ways we could afford. Bryan County EMS is a publicly funded ambulance service and we are not allowed to take a traditional loan to build new facilities. Here is some information about how we use the facilities we currently have:

Admin Facilities

The building located on North (top) West (left) houses our administrative staff and functions as dedicated office space. Bryan County EMS currently requires four full-time and one part-time office employee. The current facilities only have one private office and the rest of the space is cubicles / shared open offices.

Training Room

Bryan County EMS currently has minimal training space. Our training room is only able to seat about 10 people and we have 28 full-time employees with whom we do a monthly in-service. Other functions of this training space include:

  • Company (all hands) In-Services
  • EMT & AEMT Classes 
  • Public CPR Classes
  • Board Meetings
  • Individual Employee Education   
  • Interviews 
  • Private space for employee coaching

Medic Work Area

Bryan County EMS currently employs 26 full-time medics and 12 part-time medic employees. This allows us to run 3 ambulances all the time and a 4th truck during our busiest times. We currently run over 6,000 calls per year.

When medics need to rest, they must use one of two small bedrooms in the admin building. Each of the rooms has three twin-sized beds in them. Managing who is allowed to rest and who is not often presents a challenge when medics require private space to sleep.

Outside Facilities

Our service owns 8 ambulances. This allows us to provide 9-1-1 service to Bryan County communities, have a transfer truck (for better gas mileage), and have backup trucks available when our trucks are in the shop.

Currently, more than 50% of our vehicles and equipment are kept outside under car-ports. This means we constantly have to be weather aware and ensure that we store certain medications and medical supplies indoors when an ambulance is not in service.

New Facilities (Proposed)

The proposed new facilities would be around 16,100 square feet. The entire project is expected to cost $5,560,000. This would include one continuous building that would replace multiple current administration and operations buildings and outdoor storage areas, as well as, a renovated and expanded training facility. This also includes everything inside the buildings such as fixtures and furnishings, computers, security system, commercial appliances etc.

$21.51 per $100,000 of property value, is the average projected impact on the taxpayer for the first year of the bond. Because the bond is a serial bond it is projected to decrease over the life of the bond as follows:

(each of the following values is per $100,000 of property value)

  • 1st Year: $21.51
  • 2nd Year: $16.23
  • 3rd Year: $15.79
  • 4th Year: $15.35
  • 5th Year: $14.90
  • 6th Year: $14.46
  • 7th Year: $14.02
  • 8th Year: $13.58
  • 9th Year: $13.13
  • 10th Year: $12.69
  • 11th Year: $12.24
  • 12th Year: $11.81
  • 13th Year: $11.36

For most taxpayers, this will cost less than one extra cup of craft coffee per month.

Current Facilities

New Facilities (proposed location)

The new facilities would be located on the corner of S 22nd Ave & Mississippi this property is already owned by Bryan County EMS. The blue areas represent an idea of where the new buildings may be placed. The blue square on top of the picture would represent the remodeled training facility and the blue area to the bottom of the left picture represents the approximate placement of the new ambulance station.

Some of the current buildings and structures will be removed during the project due to the inability to repair and maintain these structures.

Office Space

New facilities would have four individual offices, as well as, cubicle / open floor space. There would also be a small conference room for smaller planning, operations, and training meetings.

Medic Work Area

In the new facilities, medics would be able to have individual space to write reports or rest as needed. The medics would have a kitchen, dining, and living area in the same building.

Medical Supplies

The new facilities would include a receiving area and a large enough storage area to house all of our supplies and medications. The storage area would be built as a safe room to protect against severe weather.

Training Facility

The bond would also provide funds to remodel the existing medic work area and create a training center capable of hosting, company meetings, board meetings, Public CPR and Stop The Bleed classes, EMR, EMT, and Advanced EMT classes. These facilities would also allow us to store training supplies and equipment in between classes.

Financial FAQs

Annual Budget Overview

  • 3.6 Million Total Budget

Income

  • 1.3 Million collected from ad valorem taxes.
  • 1.9 Million collected from billing insurance.
  • 0.1 Million ($100,000) collected from other sources.
  • 3.3 Million Total Budget

Expenses

  • 0.9 Million ($900,000) spent on Maintenance & Operations
  • 1.7 Million spent on Salaries (32 Full-Time and up to 12 Part-Time Employees)
  • 0.6 Million ($600,000) spent on employee-related expenses like benefits, taxes, etc.
  • 3.2 Million Total Expenses

Capital Improvement

  • 0.4 Million ($400,000) Budgeted
    • Most grants available to EMS do not allow us to build a building, only purchase equipment.
    • We can not spend grant money until it has been awarded.
    • Typically speaking Bryan County EMS earns less than $100,000 profit unless the money is obtained by a grant.
    • A new ambulance costs almost $300,000 for just the truck and the box.
      • Equipment runs the price up well over $400,000.

Other Things We Have Tried / Considered

  • Grant Writing
    • EMS agencies compete against Fire departments for building grants
    • EMS agencies typically score lower than Fire departments
    • Grants require large amounts of in-kind or matching money
  • Increasing Rates for Services Provided
    • Federal Law requires that we comply with Medicare Rules for billing
    • We are required to accept the fee schedule set by Medicare
      • Example: We bill $1000, Medicare says we are allowed to collect $400
      • Medicare pays $320
      • The patient pays $80
      • BCEMS can not collect the other $600
    • Other insurance companies have very similar contracts.
  • Water Bill / EMS Fee
    • Norman, OK has placed a $9.00 per month fee on their water bill to fund EMS in their city.
    • Would have to be adopted in each city in Bryan County
  • Sales Tax
    • We looked into sales tax in Bryan County but the legal structure would have to be created from scratch and the end result would have to be adopted by the voters of Bryan County
  • Bond Issue
    • The law already has provisions that allow for the ambulance district to go out for a bond issue
    • Other County EMS agencies have proposed similar issues successfully

This is a very summarized version of the information. Please feel free to come by the station and take a tour or ask if you have more questions! We want to help you make an informed decision.

Election Day is August 23rd, 2022