EMS services overshadow budget debate

Emergency medical services that aren’t included in the 2022 budget took center stage Tuesday as the Port Washington Common Council approved a $10.3 million general fund budget and the corresponding tax levy of $3.6 million.

The action came after former Mayor Marty Becker, who now lives in the Town of Cedarburg, asked aldermen not to approve a budget but instead postpone their vote and think about the need for another full-time paramedic-firefighter for the next several weeks.

Without that position, Becker said, “it seems this budget is a step backward. It’s extremely important to have it for public safety. Chief (Mark) Mitchell got us paramedics so we’d have a better service and response in the City of Port Washington.”

Rick Nelson, chairman of the Police and Fire Commission, noted that response times are getting longer as the ambulance service depends on other departments to respond when it doesn’t have the staff to do so.

“Fifteen minutes — in my opinion, that’s unacceptable,” Nelson said. “It’s to the point now where it’s becoming a crisis.”

The department brings in almost $500,000 in revenue that flows into the city’s general fund annually, he said, adding that a portion of those funds should be used for the third paramedic position.

Mitchell spoke not about the need for a paramedic-firefighter but about a second fire station, something he has been fighting for during much of his career.

“This has been going on forever,” he said, adding the need for more infrastructure to serve the city’s rapidly expanding west side is acute.

“This is something that’s very important. We need to consider this fairly quickly,” Mitchell said.

He noted that just a few years ago, the Police and Fire Commission was on the verge of hiring an architectural firm to design a new station. Once the pandemic hit, that momentum stopped and now the city seems to be waiting until a study of consolidated fire services is completed.

The study, which would look at ways to implement suggestions in a study released earlier this year, is likely to take another year, Mitchell said.

“The implementation of any type of consolidation is going to take years,” Mitchell said. “This can’t wait.”

Mayor Ted Neitzke suggested the council hold a joint session with the Police and Fire Commission in January to discuss ways to address the emergency services issues — a move lauded by Nelson.

Although aldermen approved the operating budget for next year, they held off approval of the capital budget for 2022 until Tuesday, Dec. 7, when they will discuss the capital projects, potential borrowing and the increasing debt service tax rate.