NEW ALBANY, In. -- (WDRB) The mayor of New Albany is moving to privatize the city's ambulance service. It's designed to deal with a major hole in the city's budget.
Right now, New Albany firefighters also staff the ambulance service. That would change under Mayor Jeff Gahan's plan.
New Albany runs just one ambulance for the entire city. A second unit remains parked because of budget cuts.
That, apparently, is what prompted Mayor Jeff Gahan to look at hiring a private company.
The mayor would not return numerous phone calls seeking comment, but he did tell the New Albany News and Tribune that privatization would save taxpayer money and increase service.
"We lose money every year," said City Council President Diane Benedetti.
Benedetti says the mayor has not briefed her on his plan. But she says ambulance service is an ongoing concern.
"We feel like the taxpayers here in the community need better service, need more service," Benedetti said.
The mayor does not need approval from either the city council or the firefighter's union.
But the firefighters are voting this week on whether to change their contract and give up responsibility for staffing the ambulance service.
"The mayor's office has the ultimate decision on who controls the ambulance service for the city," said Tim Bailey, president of the firefighters union. "Even if we voted to keep the ambulance in our contract he can still privatize that service. That's the mayor's choice."
But if firefighters do approve the contract change, crews that currently staff the ambulance could be assigned to regular fire duty -- "which is one of the key parts for us is making sure that we have the numbers to do everyday fire suppression duties with a safe number of people," said Bailey.
"The six or eight men that run on the ambulance, when they go back to staffing of the fire department, I think it would alleviate a lot of our overtime on the fire department that it seems like, continuously, year after year, we're running into," said Benedetti.
The Rural Metro Ambulance Service is reportedly the company selected by the mayor. But it's unclear if that selection was part of a bid process.
More answers could come during a city council meeting scheduled for Sept. 6.
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