Temple could lose its ambulance services if town officials do not reach a deal with Wilton Ambulance before the town meeting, Selectman Bill Ezell said at the town’s budget hearing Thursday night.
The proposed budget is set to increase by 1.1 percent, to $1,457,933 from last year’s $1,441,905. Both totals include warrant article expenditures.
Temple opted to budget $40,000 for ambulance services, which is $17,000 less than what Wilton Ambulance is requesting from the town. Ezell said this is because Temple is following the terms of its contract, while Wilton Ambulance has interpreted a clause of the contract to keep payment rates the same as in 2019.
“Last year, we signed a contract with Wilton and Greenfield and Lyndeborough for our common ambulance service,” Ezell said. “At that time, we changed the way that town’s portions of expenditures were going to be allocated. Last year it changed to the number of calls that were made,” per town, instead of by town population as it was previously, he said.
There wasn’t enough data to make the change in billing until the towns had a year of call data so Greenfield, Lyndeborough and Temple all paid an even 16.66 percent of the total cost in 2019.
“We have the call volume statistics. They have the call volume statistics,” he said, and Temple calculated its payment as $40,000 in light of it. Despite this, he said, Wilton Ambulance has requested the towns to continue paying their 2019 percentages, which holds Temple responsible for $57,000.
“We’re willing to negotiate,” Ezell said. “We really don’t want to lose [Wilton],” he said, and that the town’s happy with the service, but they don’t want to be paying more than their fair share. “We have attempted and we’re still attempting [for a deal].”
The town would lose ambulance services if it approves the ambulance services budget line as written, or they could opt to pay the full $57,000 as requested, he said. If they rejected Wilton Ambulance’s terms, Temple would have to pay for ambulance services for 2020 through two months past Town Meeting, at which point they’d have to find a new service provider. Available options include Peterborough Ambulance and Souhegan Valley Ambulance Service, which does not have a paramedic on staff.
“My personal opinion would be to go with Peterborough,” Ezell said.
Ambulance service costs based on the previous year’s call volume could potentially fluctuate from year to year, Ezell clarified based on a resident’s question.
Other expenses in the 2020 budget were also discussed. Ezell said there is a reduction in costs associated with the town finishing last year’s audit and paying off debts. And repairs associated with the Wilton Recycling Center have increased the sanitation budget 21 percent, he said.
Several costs associated with the town’s highway department have been moved to warrant articles such as $45,000 for improvements to downtown Main Street, Gail Cromwell said. An additional $140,000 is being set aside to mitigate the future years of the highway department’s seven year plan.
“What we’re trying to do is make provision for smoothing this out as best we can,” she said.
West Road is scheduled to be paved next year, Ezell said, because it needs more work before paving begins. Another article concerns purchasing a new mower for $32,000.
“The one we have is shot,” Ezell said.
Also on the warrant is $38,385 towards the second payment of three for the town’s lease on a backhoe, and a $6,880 thermal imaging camera for the fire department.