Rindge’s exit from the Jaffrey-Rindge Memorial Ambulance partnership leaves Jaffrey with a big funding gap and a big decision to make about the future of its own ambulance services.
With Rindge out of the equation come 2027, Jaffrey will inherit JRMA’s already rising costs as the sole customer. With discussions underway for the 2027-28 budget, Jaffrey anticipates its ambulance costs will at least quadruple from 2026, with every known option running at least half a million dollars.
“Ambulances are best served on economies of scale, and now we’re an economy of one,” Jaffrey Town Manager Jon Frederick said during a Select Board meeting on Wednesday.
Rindge notified the Jaffrey-Rindge Memorial Ambulance (JRMA) earlier this month that it wouldn’t be renewing its contract, instead getting the town’s ambulance services from Peterborough Fire and Rescue starting in 2027. The town said its decision to leave stemmed from ongoing issues, including ambulances being unavailable for service on several occasions, reliance on a subcontractor based out of Hillsborough for staffing, contract disputes, and rising costs.
JRMA originally began as a volunteer service called Jaffrey VFW Memorial Ambulance in 1948. Now a nonprofit, it has operated as a full-time paid service since 2004.
Frederick was tasked with researching options for a path forward and offered several.
Currently, under the JRMA agreement, the town has access to one fully staffed ambulance 24 hours a day, with a second ambulance staffed during peak hours from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Frederick said the quotes he received reflected maintaining that same level of service.
Staying with JRMA would mean taking on the entire cost of the operation, which for 2027 was anticipated to be $500,000, split evenly between Jaffrey and Rindge. Frederick said that cost, based on capital expenses and the cost to staff two ambulances, is expected to remain the same whether Rindge is included in the organization or not.
“This is not a linear equation,” Frederick said. “Unless the town chooses to have a degraded service to reduce this cost, then we can look at that.”
Frederick said he also requested that JRMA calculate the cost of a six-month contract, excluding capital expenses, should the town decide to go in another direction and need time to make arrangements. That would land at $198,000.
He also suggested, similar to Rindge, contracting with Peterborough for ambulance services. Jaffrey explored that possibility in 2024, and Frederick said discussions with Peterborough’s town administrator indicated that the proposal then, at $557,772, was similar to what would be offered today.
Frederick said the addition of two large towns, Rindge and Jaffrey, with populations of about 6,500 and 5,600, respectively, could require an increase in ambulances or staffing for Peterborough’s service.
“But it gives you a ballpark idea of what we’re up against here,” said Frederick.
There would also be an additional response time for crews responding to Jaffrey from Peterborough. The drive time between the Peterborough Fire Department, where Fire and Rescue is housed, and downtown Jaffrey, where JRMA is currently housed, is 14 minutes.
Jaffrey Fire Chief David Chamberlain said that, currently, when Peterborough responds to a mutual aid call in Jaffrey, qualified firefighters respond and provide immediate care until the ambulance arrives.
Frederick also received a quote from Cheshire County EMS, which would charge $46 per capita for a 24/7 single ambulance, coming to $259,118. Adding an additional ambulance from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. would run the town $294,156. To maintain the current level of service, the total cost would be $553,274.
“Starting to see a common theme here? Over half a million dollars,” Frederick told the Select Board.
Cheshire County EMS would be staffed in town, in a space provided by the town. Frederick said that could be from the new Jaffrey Fire Department addition, which includes bunk space and two new bays, or from the current JRMA building, which is owned by the town of Jaffrey. The Fire Department addition is currently under construction but is anticipated to be completed before the town meeting.
Selectman Andy Lawn said there might be some positives in the county’s EMS, namely that the county would be responsible for staffing, which he said is an ongoing issue for ambulance services.
“We’re not going to make a command decision tonight; I’m just trying to find some positives to this,” said Lawn.
The board requested that Frederick schedule meetings with JRMA and Cheshire County EMS to appear before the board for further discussion.
The other option could be Jaffrey starting its own service, Frederick said, which again, would likely be housed at a town-owned property. That would be a more expensive proposition.
Frederick said his estimate, roughly $1.5 million, was built on the current model with one 24-hour ambulance, one 12-hour ambulance and four personnel members. It doesn’t include the cost of purchasing two new ambulances, which would likely cost another approximately $1 million combined.
Frederick estimated revenue from insurance payments would be about $380,000.
“That right there glaringly shows that an ambulance is better when you have multiple communities participating,” Frederick said. “Because then everybody’s sharing in the cost and the cost goes down. You try going it alone, and you’re up against it.”
The town could have trouble winning over voters at town meeting for its own ambulance service, with Budget Committee Chair Norman Langevin saying it was “not a really good sell” for the community. For a $400,000 home in Jaffrey, he said, a $1.5 million ambulance service would result in a property tax increase of about $600.
“That’s given that the budget did not change from current,” said Langevin. “No other increases.”
Langevin said he, himself, would be uncomfortable with putting that increase before the taxpayers, but added that it may be something that the town would have to consider in the long term.
Select Board member Franklin Sterling said he didn’t know how the town would afford that expense, but he still wanted to explore the option. In his view, Jaffrey starting its own service would provide the most control and stability.
“I don’t know how we get there, but that would be my preferred option,” said Sterling. “We do it ourselves.”