Pflugerville talking to 2nd ambulance provider after tensions rise with ESD
The Pflugerville City Council has decided to keep talking to Emergency Services District #2 but also open negotiations with a private company to determine who should provide ambulance service to the town.
Council members voted unanimously on Tuesday to start talks with Allegiance Ambulance Service, a private company, after a few members said they were angry it would cost the city much more to contract for ambulance service with ESD No. 2 than the council members had been led to believe.
Council Member Ceasar Ruiz said he was "pretty furious."
Both Ruiz and Council Member Kimberly Holiday said they understood when the council voted on May 11 to begin negotiations with ESD #2, also known as the Pflugerville Fire Department, that the cost to the city would be around $290,000 per year.
They said they learned the annual cost for service could climb up to $2.9 million per year.
"Just days after City Council selected Travis County ESD No. 2 as its EMS provider, the City discovered that they were requesting an annual subsidy that was not consistent with the proposal of $291,906 that they had provided and discussed during their selection interview with City Council’s Public Safety Subcommittee in March," the city said in a news release.
"Instead, Travis County ESD No. 2 provided two options, $1,786,006 annually for service previously discussed, or $2,975,181 annually with the City of Pflugerville responsible for setting and collecting all EMS fees," the release said.
Holiday said on Tuesday that if the city uses Allegiance Ambulance Service, it won't cost the city an annual subsidy. "ESD #2 is asking for an outrageous amount of money from our residents to provide services to our community," she said.
The ESD #2 board issued a statement before the council meeting on Tuesday saying "our offer to the City of Pflugerville remains consistent with the calculations that have been provided to the City over the past year."
"Despite this consistency, the City Manager has expressed "sticker shock" and advised us that the City will not accept any contract that requires the payment of more than $300,000 per year," the ESD No. 2 statement said.
It said the ESD No. 2 board had presented two options to reduce the costs to the city's budget. "First, the City could bill and collect higher fees from City of Pflugerville residents who call 911 for advanced life support and ambulance services," the statement said. "Second, the City could designate ESD No. 2 as the only entity authorized to transfer patients for non-emergency calls within the City."
Members of the ESD No. 2 board declined to comment Thursday about the statement they made until the city has made its final decision about who the ambulance provider will be.
The City Council must contract with an ambulance provider by July 13 because it canceled its contract with Acadian Ambulance Services in March, just over two months after the private ambulance services began.
Officials voiced dissatisfaction with the quality of service of the private ambulance provider, citing inadequate response times among other issues.
READ: Pflugerville voters elect first black woman to City Council
Acadian also gave the city a letter of notice of termination with no cause on Feb. 2.
The City Council had hired Acadian after Pflugerville voters on Nov. 2 turned down the option of joining Travis County Emergency Services District No. 17, a newly created taxing entity that provides ambulance service to the same geographic region that ESD No. 2 provides fire service.
Joining ESD No. 17 would have cost homeowners an extra 4.5 cents per $100 valuation.
ESD No. 2 had been providing ambulance service to the city before the November vote but said it needed more money to continue because of increased call volume. Pflugerville Fire Chief Nick Perkins told the City Council on Tuesday that the COVID-19 pandemic had added $1 million in costs to the service and also that call volume had increased by 36% over last year.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Pflugerville talking to 2nd ambulance provider after tensions rise with ESD
