What happens if the Blaine County Ambulance District revenue increase fails?
The most obvious and immediate impact would be that funds wont be available to replace ambulances as they reach the end of their useful lives. The older ambulances in our fleet, the oldest of which has been in service for more than sixteen years, cost more money to maintain and are less reliable. Ironically, failing to replace them at the proper time causes operating costs to rise and takes them out of service for longer periods of time, thus leaving less money and equipment available to provide the ambulance service overall. Other critical and expensive medical equipment, such as cardiac defibrillators, needs to be replaced on a regular schedule, and this would become more difficult if the revenue increase fails. A little more gradually, as costs for fuel, medical equipment, supplies, and personnel increase at a rate greater than the growth in revenues available, the present level of service and rapid time of response after an E-911 call, will gradually erode. Over time, staffing and/
