A lack of volunteers, the recession and rising costs for fuel and equipment are reasons thousands of Champaign County residents could face higher rates for emergency medical services.

Township officials in many parts of the county have seen contracts to provide the service spike within the last year, leaving residents with a choice of paying higher taxes or possibly losing some service. While township officials have complained about the rapid rate of the increases, providers of the service said the changes, while painful, are necessary and overdue.

At least four local townships are asking for additional money to help cover the increasing costs of EMS service in November. Others, including Urbana Twp., have approved levies within the past year to help pay for for the service. Goshen Twp. residents also approved a 2-mill replacement levy last fall to help cover the costs of the service.

Several townships are planning a study to determine whether it is cost effective to create an entirely new fire and EMS district to help share costs. Some are also trying to negotiate contracts with different EMS services in order to get cheaper rates, ending agreements that have been in place for decades.

“We don’t know where we’re headed other than the fact that we owe more money,” said Charles Dooley, a Union Twp. Trustee.

The issue is affecting cities and townships statewide, not just in Champaign County, said Pat Bernitt, vice president of finance and emergency medical systems for the Greater Dayton Hospital Association. Agencies throughout the state are looking for ways to share services to help cope with rising costs.

“From our work with other EMS agencies in the region, it’s common that the municipalities are cutting back with the recession in the past few years,” Bernitt said.

She noted the Miami Valley is doing some things well to reduce EMS costs, including close collaboration between hospitals and EMS providers. Local hospitals routinely provide local EMS services with disposable items they can use in the field, for example. But as costs continue to rise, cities and townships are trying to find new ways to pay for the service with fewer resources.

Union Twp. paid about $36,000 for its contract with the city of Urbana in 2012. That figure will spike to $43,000 next year and to about $75,000 by 2015. The township’s contract with Mechanicsburg, about $20,000 this year, is expected to increase as well. The township is in negotiations with the village.

To help cover the increases, Union Twp. will ask residents this fall to approve a replacement of an existing 1.5-mill levy, along with an additional 2.5 mills, for a total of 4 mills. If approved, the levy will cost the owner of a $100,000 home about $120 a year. Residents pay about $45 a year under the current 1.5-mill levy, according to information from the township.

Township officials were reluctant to ask for more money from residents but had little choice, Dooley said. Townships are required to provide fire service to residents, and while EMS is not required, it is a service residents expect. The township is happy with the service it has received from the city, Dooley said, but has concerns about how rapidly the costs have increased.

“Honestly, if we don’t pass this levy, I don’t know where we’ll be,” Dooley said.

Salem Twp. is facing an increase in its EMS service that could raise rates from about $5,000 a year to as much as $126,000 annually. In the past, the township has received service from the West Liberty Emergency Medical Services. But that agency became the Macochee Joint Ambulance District in January after voters in the area approved a 3.5-mill levy to create a more professional, full-time service.

Jeremy Keller, a spokesman for Macochee, said the district has struggled in the past to recruit and retain enough volunteers to provide EMS service. Voters approved the creation of a new EMS district to create a more professional department that would offer better response times and a more consistent level of care. When voters in the district approved the levy, it was with the understanding that local townships that contract for the EMS service would pay the same 3.5-mill rate that voters in the district pay.

Keller said the district had been offering a reduced rate to the local townships in the past, but it became unsustainable, leading to a need to increase rates. In the past, the agency believed it was helping the townships by keeping rates low. But with the sudden increase, Keller says it may have been a better idea to ask for rate increases more gradually.

“We should have broadcast these trends 10 years ago,” Keller said. “We had to act as an organization because we were in danger of collapse.”

Harrison Twp. is among those affected by Macochee’s rate increases. The township’s 1.2-mill fire and EMS levy expires at the end of the year, and they are asking residents to replace it with a 2-mill levy to cover the cost of both fire and EMS services. Under Macochee’s proposal, EMS service would increase from $3,600 a year to about $33,000 a year, the equivalent of a 3.5-mill levy. Even if residents approve it this fall, the issue would still not cover the full cost that Macochee is seeking, said Stephen Harris, a Harrison Twp. trustee.

“We’re in the process of negotiating with (Macochee),” Harris said.

Macochee covers most of the eastern half of Harrison Twp. The rest is covered by Riverside EMS based in Rosewood. The township has received a proposal from Rosewood that would allow them to cover the entire township, but there are concerns about the distance required to cover the area, Harris said.

Last fall, Urbana city council members approved a four-year contract with Urbana Twp. and one-year agreements with both Union and Salem Twps. to provide both fire and EMS services. The contracts increased the amount each township will pay for the service, which was made necessary because the townships had previously been paying for fire service but had received EMS service at a significantly reduced rate, said Lee Williams, director of finance for Urbana.

Williams said the higher rates for the townships would have been necessary even without the recession. The city had allowed the townships to pay small increases that did not keep up with the rising costs to provide the service, Williams said.

“We let it fall behind in the past, and we’re not going to let it repeat itself in the future,” Williams said.

Because of the rate increases and other issues, several townships — including Goshen, Urbana, Union and Salem — as well as the village of Mechanicsburg are considering a study to evaluate local levies and determine what it would cost to create and maintain a new fire and EMS district. The townships recently applied for a grant to help pay for the $20,000 study, which would be conducted with the help of the Ohio Fire Chiefs Association, said Lewis Terry, an Urbana Twp. trustee. Even without the grant, Terry said the townships will likely each chip in to pay for the study, which would help determine if it’s more cost effective to create a new district or continue with the current arrangement.

Like most township officials, Terry said the service provided by the city has been good, but the size and speed of the rate increases has been a challenge.

“It’s a tough situation and the cost factor has really gotten out of hand,” Terry said.

Once the study is complete, Urbana’s Williams said be believes the townships will discover they are already getting a fair price, despite the recent rise in costs.

In Jackson Twp., residents will be asked this fall to approve a 1-mill replacement and increase levy for ambulance services, as well as a 1.5-mill replacement and increase for fire service. The 1.5-mill fire levy will cost about $46 for the owner of a $100,000 home, while the 1-mill ambulance levy will cost about $30 for the owner of a $100,000 home.

The township’s contracts with Christiansburg and the JSP Joint Fire District include annual rate increases for both fire and EMS services, and the levies are necessary just to keep up with annual rate increases, said David Pierson, fiscal officer for Jackson Twp.

“I do not have enough money in the budget to pay next year’s fire contracts if it doesn’t pass,” Pierson said of the levy.

Several factors contribute to the increasing cost of EMS service, said Chief Mark Keller, of the Urbana Fire Division. Rising fuel and maintenance costs, for example, make each run more expensive than in previous years.

The rates the city charges the townships are based on the population and the number of runs. In addition, the training requirements and abilities of emergency medical technicians and paramedics in the field has improved the level of service to residents. However, it also means the equipment needed to provide that level of service is often more expensive to purchase and maintain.

“We’re doing a lot more stuff in the field now that used to be done in the hospitals,” Keller said.

EMS providers and township officials said the challenge is to provide the best service to residents at the lowest cost. But how that service should be provided and paid for will be an ongoing debate.

“”We’re trying to make it as fair as possible,” Keller said.

While townships will continue to negotiate for the best rates, Dooley said the service is a necessity for residents.

“It’s still a bargain if you need it,” Dooley said.