New Northfield EMS budget formula expected to result in increased contributions in FY26

This changing assessment formula comes at what is already a pivotal time for Northfield EMS as it is relocating into its new building at 546 Northfield Road in Bernardston.

This changing assessment formula comes at what is already a pivotal time for Northfield EMS as it is relocating into its new building at 546 Northfield Road in Bernardston. FOR THE RECORDER/AALIANNA MARIETTA

By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

Staff Writer

Published: 01-21-2025 5:35 PM

As the organization explores a new assessment model amid regionalization, the proposed fiscal year 2026 budget for Northfield EMS is seeing an increase in the contributions paid by the four communities it serves.

Each of the four towns — Northfield, Gill, Erving and Bernardston — have had separate inter-municipal agreements with Northfield EMS. Revenue generated for the service comes through billing for patient transportation, but canceled calls or instances where an individual isn’t transported by ambulance creates a revenue gap, according to Northfield EMS Chief Matt Wolkenbreit.

To accommodate for this, each town is asked to pay into the Northfield EMS budget, which is now calculated through an assessment model. According to Wolkenbreit, the assessment formula factors in the population and average call volume of each town to determine the contribution.

This model is new, with the prior fiscal years asking for a $25,000 flat fee from Gill, Bernardston and Erving, regardless of the individual town’s population or call volume. According to Wolkenbreit, this assessment model will be part of a new inter-municipal agreement that is in the works for all four towns as part of a Regional Emergency Medical Services Study being conducted by the University of Massachusetts Boston’s Edward J. Collins Jr. Center for Public Management.

After calculating what fiscal year 2025 figures would have been using the new assessment model for fiscal year 2026 to create a fair comparison, Wolkenbreit said Northfield will see the largest increase of $41,689, making for a total contribution of $102,778. Erving will see the smallest increase of $17,410 making for a $42,924 contribution, as only half the community is served by Northfield EMS.

Wolkenbreit pointed out that these increases aren’t necessarily “three- and four-fold,” as there is a remaining balance on an implementation grant that will be used to offset some of the FY26 cost for the towns.

“The costs are definitely increased,” Wolkenbreit said. Call volume increased substantially as Northfield EMS became the primary service provider for those communities, and he said the equipment replacement turnaround time is shorter than what was estimated a few years back, increasing operating costs.

“It’s overall mileage on trucks, cost of fuel, cost of equipment, cost of doing business with benefits and wages, and salary-type line items for people,” Wolkenbreit said. “Everything has gone up.”

Article continues after...

Yesterday's Most Read Articles

This changing assessment formula comes at what is already a pivotal time for Northfield EMS as it is relocating into its new building at 546 Northfield Road in Bernardston. In November 2024, voters approved the $2.1 million purchase and renovation of the property, and permitted the Selectboard to petition the state Legislature to allow Northfield to buy the property. The $2.1 million comes from $312,012 from the Sale of Cell Tower Easement Account, nearly $1.11 million from the Emergency Services Building Account and $680,479 from the Capital Stabilization Fund.

“That is a cost being borne by the town of Northfield, who is the fiduciary, or sort of the responsible party for our department, because we’re a town department for Northfield, even though we’re a shared resource,” Wolkenbreit said. “The other three towns are not being asked to contribute to that. They, as part of the collective budget, will cover our operating costs for the building. So we’re very excited for that project.”

Speaking to other factors driving the increases, Wolkenbreit said Northfield EMS hopes to order a new ambulance this year to replace its 2014 ambulance and continue to increase staffing.

“We’ve hired two benefited EMT positions already this year, and in our new budget, we have plans to hire one more paramedic into a full-time benefited position and one more EMT into a full-time benefited position,” he said.

Currently, the minimum number of staff for a shift to create a crew is two, and Northfield EMS is made up of 15 full-time and part-time members, Wolkenbreit said.

Gill Town Administrator Ray Purington said Tuesday that it is too early to comment on how the increasing contributions would impact Gill, but he offered a perspective for taxpayers seeing the service they’ll be asked to fund.

Based on the $55,745 FY26 assessment for Gill, an increase of $22,611, the daily cost per resident is less than a dime, at $0.098. For a family of two, that is a cost of less than 20 cents for ambulance service, which Purington said he thinks is “worthwhile.”

For Bernardston, the FY26 assessment is $82,401, increasing by $33,423.

Erin-Leigh Hoffman can be reached at ehoffman@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.