DEERFIELD — Regardless of whether South County Emergency Medical Service moves out of South Deerfield, the three towns it serves will still have to pay for the medical services they receive.
That means Deerfield’s proposed contribution is $314,656 for FY2017, according to Article 11 of this year’s annual town meeting warrant scheduled for Monday. Town Administrator Douglas C. Finn said the $314,656 is solely Deerfield’s assessment for SCEMS, which services Deerfield, Whately and Sunderland.
Chief Zachary Smith, the service’s director, told The Recorder the medical service’s FY2017 budget will be $1,077,299 if the three towns adopt their SCEMS articles as is. He said, as with any department, the majority of SCEMS’s budget goes toward personnel costs, like salaries and benefits. A smaller portion, he said, goes to equipment, repairs, rent and other bills.
The service is currently based out of the South Deerfield Fire District, where it pays $18,000 in rent per year. It will go up to about $36,000 on July 1, 2016, if the service stays in that building. At that time, the service would pay $50,287 in rent across three locations. Smith said SCEMS has had overwhelming community support since it went into service in July 2014.
Smith said there is a SCEMS ambulance at the South Deerfield Fire District, the Sunderland Fire Department and the Whately Fire Department. His office is in Deerfield Town Hall. The idea is to consolidate these sites into one location. Whately’s new town offices has been selected but it is meeting some resistance from residents who don’t want the service to move out of Deerfield.
You can reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com
or 413-772-0261, ext. 257. On Twitter, follow @DomenicPoli