An extensive work session is scheduled during policy and planning at the upcoming Pella City Council meeting.
Following regular business, the council is set to receive a financial update that shows the current fiscal year is set to run at a deficit for the third consecutive year.
A memo issued to the Pella City Council projects a $613,285 loss in the current fiscal year in the general fund, which would mark the third consecutive year the city has run in the red overall.
While City Administrator Mike Nardini wrote in the council packet, “Overall, the financial picture for the city is strong but there are challenges ahead.”
The losses were attributed to increased costs related to Pella Ambulance and implementation of a new employee compensation plan. Nardini stressed the situation is being compounded by state legislation that has limited the city’s ability to increase revenue. Several large projects are on the immediate horizon requiring likely bonding, including the Central College tennis court renovation, proposed soccer complex improvements, the Southside Beautification project, 215 Main Street rehabilitation, and demotion of the former Second Christian Reformed Church building.
Following the budget discussion, an extensive review of a consultant’s report will be shared with details highlighting the various challenges faced by the city-run Pella Ambulance service.
An ambulance consultant study was completed by Iowa EMS Consultants, and the recommendations are largely geared toward a need to increase staff, to stop overworking current Pella Ambulance administration, and to settle financial issues with Lake Prairie Fire District and Pella Regional Health Center.
The consultant’s report recommended that Pella Ambulance no longer provide services to nearby rural residents unless the township subsidizes those services. The City of Pella indicated that the township has declared they do not have the resources for that service.
A key passage from the report reads, “In addition to staffing, Iowa EMS Consultants was asked to further analyze service to the outside community of Lake Prairie Township. It has been figured to cost between $600 and $800 per call to respond to Lake Prairie Township, which averages to roughly $700 per call. In the 2023 fiscal year, Pella Community Ambulance Service had 104 calls for service to Lake Prairie. This equates to $72,800 which comes from the City of Pella’s citizens tax dollars so that the citizens of Lake Prairie Township have access to an ALS ambulance service.
This creates a difficult situation for Iowa EMS Consultants which prioritizes what’s best
for the patient, what’s best for the EMS provider, and what’s best for the taxpayer. It is, without a doubt, best for the patient to have access to ALS ambulance services. However, it is not best for the taxpayers in the city of Pella to be funding the service to Lake Prairie Township. The city of Pella has no legal contract with the Lake Prairie Township Board of Trustees. Therefore, they have no obligation to serve this district. The taxpayers of the city of Pella pay for this ambulance service, and until the taxpayers of Lake Prairie Township begin paying for this service, coverage of Lake Prairie Township should cease with proper public notice.”
This comes as Marion County has now declared EMS an essential service, and voters will likely get the chance to vote on a proposed levy increase to pay for rural ambulance services and to bolster the current city EMS providers in the spring of 2025.
The Pella City Council meeting begins at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Pella Public Safety Complex.