New Funding Formula for Fire Medical Department

0:00It's May 1st. This is Kansas News Today, your AI-powered local news. Lawrence and Douglas County leaders are set to review a new funding formula for their shared Fire Medical Department next week. The proposal shifts the cost split to 59.7% for the city and 40.3% for the county. That's close to last year's stopgap 6040 deal, but a step away from the old 6436 split that ran through 2025. The old setup only looked at fire versus EMS staffing ratios, which caused swings as positions changed. This new one, layers and population data, incident locations, total runs by unit type, and even what demand would have looked like if the departments had emerged back in 1996. Fire Medical came from blending Lawrence Fire and Douglas County ambulance that year, serving fires in the city and EMS County-wide. Cities wants stability now, especially with growth like the new station 6, which means adding battalion chiefs, a training lieutenant and 23 full-time spots for engines and medics.

1:04City commissioners meet Tuesday, May 4th, while county folks follow Wednesday, May 5th, both getting the full briefing. On the city side, they're eyeing two new ambulances for $1,148,900 with county reimbursement. Plus a temporary halt on demo permits in university place for historic nomination time, and more closed door talk on city manager picks. This formula's week aims to keep budget steady, long term, no matter how staffing evolves, so both sides can focus on the real work of keeping folks safe.