City budget amended for ambulance service

CLINTONVILLE – The city of Clintonville continues to move forward with creating a city-operated ambulance service.

At the Sept. 8 Clintonville Common Council meeting, the council approved the creation of a special revenue fund for the proposed city ambulance service, as well as approving a 2026 city budget amendment to allow funds to be spent in 2026 for an ambulance service.

At the meeting, Clintonville City Administrator Craig Moser told the council that after speaking with the city’s auditors, he was informed that the city establishing a special revenue fund for the proposed creation of an ambulance service run by the city would be appropriate.

“For the purposes of being able to proceed with the start-up costs this year, we do need to create this special revenue fund to allow for the funding to flow and to keep it segregated from the general fund,” Moser said.

Also at the meeting, Council President Greg Rose asked Clintonville Fire Chief Shane Krueger about additional city personnel who would be needed for the city to operate its own ambulance service.

Krueger said the city would look to hire six fulltime staff for the ambulance service. He added that backup incident response would come from Clintonville Fire Department staff. 

Ald. Brad Rokus said even if the council approved the budget for a proposed ambulance service, he would like the council to approve the purchase of ambulances when the city is ready to purchase them. Rokus cited the city’s procurement policy as a possible reason the ambulance purchases would need to be approved individually by the council.

“I did review the procurement policy and I think we can work through that and follow the procurement policy as written,” Moser said. “Obtaining some additional quotes to ensure that we have the best value. But I believe, these budget numbers will cover the purchase of those two vehicles. As long as we’re following our own procurement policy, I think we should be fine.”

Moser said he would verify that further council action to purchase ambulances would not be required.

Ambulance budget

Regarding the budget for the proposed city-operated ambulance service, Moser said he spoke with the city’s financial advisor and confirmed that the funds the city has from its bond issue in 2024 would be sufficient to cover the purchase of capital items for the ambulance service.

“We currently have not drawn down any of the funds from that bond issue,” Moser told the Clintonville Finance & Personnel Committee at its Sept. 8 meeting. 

Moser also told the committee that the city’s financial advisor recommended utilizing the funds from the 2024 bond issue to cover the large capital purchases for the ambulance service and to use funds from the city’s general fund balance to cover the operational items for the ambulance service for the rest of this year.

According to a budget document regarding a city-operated ambulance service, the city would use $806,000 from the 2024 bond issue for the 2026 budget for the ambulance service. These funds would be used to purchase two ambulances, a 2026 vehicle and a 2015 vehicle, at a total cost of $496,000. The city would also purchase a garage on 7th Street from Clintonville Utilities for $235,000. This property would be used for the ambulance service.

In addition, the funds from the 2024 bond issue would be used to make modifications to the 7th Street garage at an estimated cost of $25,000. Modifications would also be made to the Clintonville Fire Department and Clintonville City Hall building at an estimated cost of $50,000.

The city would also transfer $202,100 from its general fund to the special revenue fund for the ambulance service. These funds would cover the ambulance service’s operational expenses for the remainder of 2026. The three largest outlays of funds would include: $90,000 for capital outlay and small equipment, $75,000 for salaries, and $25,000 for employee benefits.