City will use revenue from fee hike to support fund-raising for maintaining Advanced Life Support-level EMS
The Delta Junction City Council approved a plan Tuesday to raise money to help pay for ambulance service by increasing landfill tipping fees.
The council unanimously adopted Pete Hallgren’s proposal to hike the fees from 8 cents a pound to 12 cents. The city would then use most of the additional revenue to support the city’s ambulance service.
Mayor Igor Zaremba said the fee hike is long overdue.
“The last time we increased our tipping fees was May of 2015,” he said.
Hallgren suggested diverting some of the additional revenue for ambulance service during a discussion on increasing tipping fees as part of an ordinance that sets the fiscal year 2025 budget at about $2.6 million. The city and other area organizations have for months been trying to find alternative revenue for the service before a federal grant that’s been subsidizing it runs out in October.
“I think we’re just way behind the curve in coming up with answers,” Hallgren said.
The city needs $900,000 dollars per year to fully compensate for the loss of grant funding. Hallgren said increasing tipping fees to 14 cents a pound would cover that shortfall, but he suggested that much of an increase might create hardship for area residents who use the landfill. So after further discussion, the council settled on the 4-cent-per pound proposal.
“That’s something that I think is do-able,” he said. “I don’t think $900,000 a year is do-able – anywhere near do-able for the city.”
The council also agreed to Zaremba's suggestion to revisit the fee hike in 90 days to determine its impact to area residents.
Hallgren suggested using three-quarters of the revenue raised by the 4-cent increase for ambulance service. The remaining amount would be used to cover the increased cost of landfill operation, mainly caused by inflation.
But council member Travis Riesner said everyone is trying to cope with higher costs.
“Inflation has been going crazy,” Riesner said. “Everything‘s been getting more expensive.”
In the end, Riesner voted no, but the rest of the council approved the 4-cent increase, effective July 1st. They also agreed to supplement the fee-hike revenue with other city funds to bring Delta’s total annual contribution to the area’s ambulance service to about $300,000.
They also agreed to continue helping the community-wide effort to raise the remaining amount needed to maintain the same level of Advanced Life Support ambulance service.
Also Tuesday, the council selected Zaremba, the deputy mayor, to replace Mayor J.W. Musgrove, who resigned last week. The council also selected Mary Leith to fill Zaremba’s deputy mayor position, and to begin soliciting for someone to fill the seat left vacant by Musgrove’s departure.
Editor’s note: Mary Leith is the spouse of KUAC reporter Tim Ellis.
