Taxes
Emergency Politic$
May 18, 2005 
Looks like those who have the most to gain or lose are the big players in the upcoming EMS tax levy election and the general public will fall asleep listening.
The Ada Commissioners get kudos for at least having an election May 24. They are attempting to buy time, but as long as you have paramedics, firefighters, doctors, hospitals, insurance companies all trying to make big bucks off the misery of citizens it will never get solved.
The election is the right thing, but the question is wrong. The solution is probably a countwide fire and ambulance service just like the Ada County Highway District. To do that cities and fire districts need to go out of business, pool their assets and serve the public with a consolidated team–good luck!
It is an emotional issue because only when we flip a car or smash a thumb do we understand the importance of emergency responders. Afterall, it is our thumb or loved one that is smashed!
The Guardian likes common sense, logical solutions and so far, there are none on the horizon. The two hospitals know there is money to be made in the emergency business–that is why they fly choppers all over the state and post big ads touting the value of emergency response. You will never see a price in those ads like, “For five grand you can fly 20 miles and enjoy groovy drugs to boot!”
Now we hear both St. Als and St. Luke’s are in the process of starting their own ambulance services. They got licensed for door-to-door transport only because Ada County officials keep that lucrative emergency market to themselves. It appears the hospitals will eventually squeeze private carriers Ada-Boi and North West Paramedics Association out of the market.
The firemen want to do the same with the County EMS. The big problem is we have many fire districts and cities in the county and even more square miles of uninhabited desert where people get hurt which has NO TAX BASE. That means either a private response or a city paying for response outside their city limits.
A no vote will force the issue, but could cause diminished service level. Vote your conscience, but please vote.
To insure more advertising-free Boise Guardian news, please consider financial support.
Comments & Discussion
Comments are closed for this post.
Comments are closed.