By Karen Richards/KLCC

Voters in the Florence area will decide in November whether to renew an expiring levy for ambulance services.

The Western Lane Ambulance District serves nearly 700 square miles, including all of coastal Lane County and many rural, inland areas.

Rob Chance, the Fire and EMS Chief, said the levy rate hasn’t changed since it was initiated in 2012, even though expenses have ballooned.

“We didn’t count on fuel going up the last few years,” he told KLCC. “That really hurt us. Ambulances cost so much money to purchase and outfit with all the the latest technology and equipment. Personnel services have gone up. All other materials and services have gone up, medications are more expensive.”

Chance said it’s important to be respectful of people’s pocketbooks, and instead be more creative with budgeting.

Funds raised by the operational levy renewal would cover the costs of maintaining and fueling three ambulances, purchasing medical equipment and medicine, as well as staffing paramedics and other EMS personnel, including those in communications, dispatch, operations, and training.

Each year, the Western Lane Ambulance District fields about 5,000 emergency medical calls and conducts about 3,700 ambulance transports.

If the levy passes, the cost to taxpayers would remain the same, at $45 per year for each $100,000 of assessed property value.

This story was first published by KLCC and is used with permission.