The Decatur County Finance Committee met on Tuesday to review a number of items that reflect on the County budget.  The committee, consisting of Commissioners Earl Perry, Russell Smith and Frank Loeffler, reviewed and reported on a list of topics and projects previously established.

A portion of the EMS discussion

Among the reports was the privatization of Decatur County EMS.  It was stated that the  county was subsidizing EMS $600,000 to $700,000 per year.  Two things that are planned is an increase in the rates and to begin charging for the multitude of lifting assistance calls that are free at this time.

Carl Rowland stated, "If privatization is chosen, you can bet a private ambulance copmpany will want to charge a competitive rate, so that's something, in my opinion, that will have to be done anyway."  They hope to have new EMS rates ready to consider in January in addition to reviewing the Request for Proposal for EMS Services.

Current Fee Comparison (more counties to be checked)

	Decatur	Grady	Seminole
Basic Life Support Non-Emergency	$275	$375	$350
Basic Life Support Emergency	$350	$450	$450
Advanced Life Support Non-Emergency	$375	$400	$350
Advanced Life Support Emergency	$425	$500	$500
Advanced Life Support Level 2	$500	$600	$550
Specialty Care Transport	$600	$700	$600
Mileage	$10/Mile	$9.50/Mile	$8.50/Mile

Some of the other areas covered by the Finance Committee

Administrative Action

The Humane Society(Tom Patton)
Encourage more inmate labor to HS Staff - Ongoing discussion

EMS Collections(Carl Rowland)
Contracted with CBA to collect, expecting a report on collection results

Health Insurance Incentives(Marjorie Mayfield)
Look at incentives to encourage wellness/annual Check ups
Met with TBR to discuss incentives; suggestions recorded. Implemented new prescription drug program effective 12/01/2011.

Policy Review/Change Action

Health Fair(Marjorie Mayfield)
Set Date, Increase mandatory requirements for incentives. Date Set for 10/05/2011. 105 to date for blood draw; about 125 participated.

Facilities Maintenance(Tom Patton)
Meet with Warden and Sheriff to discuss current staff. Wayne Haire is inspecting all AC units in the facilities with a small inmate crew. The next step is to contact Coopers Heating and Air to provide Preventive Maintenance training

EMS Privatization(Carl Rowland)
Get Quotes from Hospital and Private Orgs
Carl Rowland and Marjorie Mayfield sent our requests for information from other cities and counties. Information filtering in. Look at Brooks County model Received copies of contracts from another county; trying to get a sample RFP (Request for Proposal) Prepared draft RFP. Spoke to several providers. Met with Bill Hogan, EMS Director. Reviewing current rates, distant transports and lifting assistance fees. After the analysis, the Finance Committee during the month of January will review the RFP and meet with staff including EMS director.

County Garbage Collection(Carl Rowland)
Check feasibility of private company or in house. No Action

Policy Review/Change Action

Landfill Marketing(Carl Rowland)
Work with Frank Loeffler on Business plan for landfill.  Recent activity-Carl and Tom has secured an additional $375,000  of annual landfill sales.

County Vehicles(Marjorie Mayfield)
Procure a list of all take home vehicles. Write and review policy for each department
There are only 2 take home vehicles which are not a neccessity.  Those are in the Planning Dept, but was part of their employment agreement.

Airport/Industrial Park Re-Organization(Tom Patton/Marjorie Mayfield)
Develop a plan for re-organization/transition for retirement of Ollie Brown.  The finance committee gave Mr Patton permission to hire an Airport Manager in the place of the Industrial Park Superintendent's position.

FLSA OT Pay for EMS/911(Marjorie Mayfield)
Check state and federal regulations.  No Action

Joint Purchasing with City(Tom Patton)
Discuss possibility of joint purchasing in bulk. Feasibility of in-house purchasing agent. Tom Patton to have dialog with Chris Hobby.  May not be cost effective-tabled for now.

Joint Planning Dept with City(Tom Patton)
Feasibility of joint department with City.  On-Going. Talking with City Manager Chris Hobby.

Natural Gas Conversion(Carl Rowland)
Convert operations (including vehicles) to natural gas.  Check surrounding areas.