Maumee residents will continue to receive exemplary Advanced Life Support and other emergency services as needed and we will continue to aid our neighboring partners through Mutual Aid Agreements.
The proposed Lucas County agreement in its current form has been declined because it may not fairly serve the citizens of Maumee.
See full press release below:
Nancy Gagnet | Public Information Officer c 419.360.8466 | ngagnet@maumee.org
March 19, 2024
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
City of Maumee Declines Lucas County ALS Agreement
MAUMEE, OH – After careful consideration, Maumee City Council has unanimously decided not to accept, in its current form, a proposed agreement with Lucas County aimed at providing county-wide Advanced Life Support services.
Despite ongoing discussions over the past year between the County and its partnering jurisdictions to reach an agreement, we believe that the proposal contains too many unanswered questions and a myriad of ambiguous language. Further, we believe that moving forward with the agreement could put the safety of our citizens at risk while creating a negative impact on the financial health of our city.
It costs Maumee approximately $1.7 million annually to operate the Lucas County Life Squad currently housed in the city. However, the County has proposed allocating only $402,000 to fund it – a far less amount than needed and a 50 percent reduction from the $804,000 in funding previously provided.
Currently, 77 percent of Maumee’s Lucas County Life Squad calls for service are outside of the city limits. The former agreement requires that one Maumee unit be called into service throughout the county through an automatic aid scenario. The proposed agreement however would require all of Maumee’s ALS-capable ambulances to respond to calls throughout the County when called, which means our emergency vehicles could be responding to multiple calls outside of Maumee’s city limits. We believe this contradicts the desire of Maumee voters who in November approved a 5.6-mill levy to fund Fire and EMS service in the City of Maumee.
We remain committed to providing exemplary emergency service to the citizens of Maumee and will continue to aid our neighbors through Mutual Aid Agreements. We harbor no ill will toward Lucas County in its efforts to provide the very best countywide emergency services, which Lucas County voters agreed to financially support through an additional sales tax levy in 1993.
The proposed agreement in its current form, however, may not fairly serve our citizens. Therefore, it is our sincere belief that the proposed Lucas County agreement is not in the best interest of the taxpayers of Maumee, and we cannot in good conscience support it.