Boro promises $$ to PAAS / By Martha Knight

The Port Area Ambulance Service is on life support, financially speaking, according to a presentation at the Port Allegany Borough Council meeting Monday night. But council members voted unanimously to consider dedicated tax millage support, beginning next year, and to provide some funding to help tide PAAS service over in the meantime.

A delegation from PAAS said its Advanced Life Support status, achieved in 2012, requires more staff and payroll costs than the Basic Life Support service did. But a major source of loss to the corps is the failure of some patients to remit to PAAS the insurance payments sent to the patients for rides and care provided by PAAS.

It costs PAAS about $317 per trip to transport someone, the group said. Last year PAAS’s expenses totaled $195,571.50, but income came to $152,901.34. The group has been looking at a possibility of shutting down the service a few months hence.

Council member Kate Kysor is treasurer of PAAS, and she helped present the dire financial picture of the group to her fellow council members.

Council president Andrew Johnson said the state allows a borough to levy a tax of up to 1 mill for support of an ambulance service. The borough does levy a 3 mill tax dedicated to support of the Port Allegany Fire Department. Johnson said he would favor a similar arrangement for PAAS.

Council members expressed frustration that the request for help had not come three months ago, when the 2015 budget was being adopted. Group members said they were trying everything possible “to keep from having to ask for help.”

Council member Dave Fair moved to plan on providing tax support beginning next year, and seeking similar support from the other municipalities for which PAAS is first responder: Liberty and Annin Townships. The motion was supported by all council members.

Meanwhile the borough administration was asked to look for any possible slack in the current budget that would allow for some stop-gap assistance, with possible action to come next month.

PAAS was founded in 1975 as an all-volunteer service. Since then it gradually has full-time and part-time staff, while still using some trained volunteers, and has enhanced its services. It averages about 50 calls a month.