The Pettis County Ambulance District Board of Directors discussed its proposed 2017 budget during its regular meeting Tuesday. PCAD Administrator Mike Gardner told the board 2016 was a good year for the district, noting the opening of Station 2 in east Pettis County and the district taking over Windsor Ambulance District services. PCAD has already made more than 6,000 calls for service this year and another 800 in Windsor.
“I’d like to take 2017 to slow down a little and focus more on our ambulances and personnel,” Gardner said. “It seems like since the district started we’ve always been building with the downtown headquarters, the education building, Windsor station and now Station 2.”
Proposed in the 2017 budget is the purchase of one or two new ambulances to replace older ones. Additionally, Gardner proposed adding an additional 24-hour unit made up of part-time staff.
“We absolutely need another ambulance and I’d like to staff it with part-timers,” Gardner said. “We have some trouble keeping part-time people now because we just don’t have the hours for them. But if we had this crew, we could really benefit.”
The part-time employees would not be eligible for healthcare or benefits, Gardner noted, and while the extra payroll would amount to approximately $300,000 for the year, the additional manpower would help eliminate the number of overtime hours currently clocked.
“This is something the supervisors and I have talked a lot about and I think it may almost pay for itself with the overtime savings,” he said.
Other major 2017 proposals include purchasing an additional response vehicle for supervisors to both save money on mileage for conferences and trainings, but also allow supervisors the ability to respond to an emergency scene if necessary.
The PCAD Board will vote to approve the 2017 budget during its next meeting, December 27.