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SPENCER – Selectmen reviewed what it would look like if the Spencer Rescue Squad became a town department.
According to Town Administrator Jeff Bridges, the Rescue Squad offered to donate its assets to the town with two conditions. These are that full-time employees who wish to work for the town are brought over without losing vacation time and that a municipal EMS department operates for five years.
Previously, the board heard presentations from Cataldo Ambulance Services and Action Ambulance Services – both who answered an RFP to provide emergency medical services. On January 23, selectmen will make site visits to these bidders’ headquarters and are expected to vote on the matter on January 26.
Members will also arrange a visit to the Spencer Rescue Squad location.
Bridges explained that the proposal is for one advanced life services (ALS) ambulance working 24/7 and another ALS vehicle for 12 hours.
The cost depends on how the town classifies the employees for pension purposes. If in group 1 (non-public safety employees), the subsidy is $421,277. If classified as group 4 (public safety employees), the total is $542,273.
Bridges said the assumption is if an employee comes over getting paid less than what they would at their classification level, the salary would be increased. If it is higher, they will receive a 2 ½% increase like other municipal employees do.
The town administrator said assuming the Spencer Rescue Squad pays off its debt before the town acquires its assets, the town should have enough capital “to do this…based upon net schedule and current cash.”
Bridges said the scenario proposes 15 employees, 14 emergency medical personnel and one office manager.
He said a significant amount of recruiting would have to be done to fill the slots because only six or seven Spencer Rescue Squad EMS employees are likely to come over and become town employees.
Bridges added that several of the per diem EMTs that were surveyed expressed an interest in working for the town.
Even Squad personnel moving over will have to fill out an application and go through a vetting process. If a conditional offer of employment is made, those people have the physical and screening steps like any other town employee, Bridges said.
Some differences include the Rescue Squad pays $20,000 for an audit, while the town pays $4,000. Also, the Squad pays for a bookkeeper while the town will not have to.
Spencer cannot run a subscription service, Bridges said, adding Spencer Rescue Squad takes advantage of a supplemental Medicare program through MassHealth. The town will not be eligible for that, he said, because it is open to non-public ambulance services.
However, Bridges said they found a “mirror plan,” for public services “that is very well hidden in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts…It’s a very data driven revenue stream. We provide data in and they generate some number back.”
He added the town would not be eligible for that funding until after the first year of operations is over. The amounts are unknown currently.
Bridges noted that if the town takes over the Spencer Rescue Squad, UMass will continue its medical affiliation agreement and “align with the town and be our medical control.”
The difference between choosing group 1 versus group 4 classification is that the latter would attract more candidates for employment with the prospect of being able to retire earlier, according to Fire Chief Robert Parsons.
Parsons said it would be more advantageous to have full-time roles for people applying as opposed to only offering per diem work.
Per diem workers are typically used to cover overtime to reduce those costs, Parsons said.
Selectmen chairman Jared Grigg noted that comparing “apples to apples,” regarding a setup with 24/7 ALS and 12-hour ALS, Cataldo would be $385,555; Action at $394,459: and a town Spencer Rescue Squad at $421,277 for group 1 or $542,277 for group 4 (classifications).
“We’re close enough that I think this is worth doing,” Grigg said. ”We’re never going to have an opportunity to have a town operation like this again. We’ve been fortunate and they have been incredibly gracious to give us this opportunity,” he said of the Spencer Rescue Squad.
Selectman Gary Woodbury said the numbers are close enough to not walk away from the possibility. However, he said he needed more time to digest all the information because they only received it three days before. “There’s a lot of areas we’ve got to dig deeper into.”
Woodbury said no matter which company or organization they choose, the town is still going to need more money to fund it—“through an override or something else.”
He added they owed it to the taxpayers to evaluate all options “under a time constraint to pull this off.”
Selectman Ralph Hicks said, if possible, he is in favor of keeping a “known quantity that knows the community and (we) know the type of services they give.”
Grigg spoke about the importance of evaluating all three proposals and going on the site visits with an eye toward deciding at the end of the month.
