Paramedics tax

Genesee County voters should renew property tax support for government paramedics, even though they operate within a deeply flawed emergency medical care system that officials have been reluctant to reform.

Optimistically, members of The Journal Editorial Board are crossing their fingers that if this nearly half-mill levy is retained for 10 years in the Aug. 8 primary, the county Board of Commissioners will replace a mishmash ambulance arrangement with a reliable operation.

Granted, this may be wishful thinking based on shenanigans we've seen. Some commissioners have shunned solid professional advice on improving this vital public service so they can please private ambulance companies and other special interests.

Nevertheless, a strong case can be made for renewing this tax, which has been around for more than 25 years and primarily funds 41 sheriff department deputies and supervisors. Their role is crucial in the EMS package because, as trained law enforcement officers, they respond in dangerous environments that private companies often avoid.

The millage raises about $5.4 million annually, with about $750,000 of the total going to the Flint Fire Department for an emergency rig. There is a dispute over whether Flint should continue to receive this money, especially since the sheriff paramedics have been responding increasingly to city calls.

However, the major deficiency with the county's ambulance service concerns the part handled by private companies. Currently, there are nine firms grabbing any profitable business they can in a free-for-all that can result in slow responses and uncovered areas. None of these rigs communicates directly with 911 dispatchers and they aren't equipped with locator devices that tell their whereabouts. Yet they respond to at least two-thirds of the 911 medical emergencies, and provide all transport to hospitals.

If one private company was granted all emergency transport duty, as a consultant recommends, and if no more than two private companies were teaming with the sheriff's rigs, the revenue stream would support an EMS system with uniformly high standards.

This is the direction the county needs to take, but under any reorganization the sheriff's paramedics, with their police powers, must be part of the plan. Therefore, voters should renew the tax to support them, and then pressure the politicians to deliver on the recommended ambulance system upgrades with all speed.