Due to looming severe budget cuts for Sumter County’s two fire departments, American Medical Response (AMR) will remove its staff and three ambulances from the county effective Oct. 1, when the new fiscal year begins.
AMR will continue leasing four ambulances to the county.
Both Sumter County and The Villages decided to take over ambulance services after long delays were reported for some AMR ambulance service during the pandemic.
The Villages Public Safety Department began operating its ambulances last Oct. 1.
The Sumter County Fire Department, which covers the area outside The Villages, was working toward the takeover of ambulance services through a three-year transition agreement with AMR, a national private company.
Under that agreement, AMR supplied seven ambulances until the county receives it own and staffed three of them with paramedics and emergency medical technicians. The others were staffed by the fire department.
In a Sept. 1 email to County Administrator Bradley Arnold, Brett Jovanovich, AMR’s southeast regional vice president, said the company will remove its ambulances and staffing at the end of the month.
“We understand that due to the recent action of the Sumter BOCC (Board of County Commissioners) to not approve increased funding for the fire department in fiscal year 2024, Sumter is unable to fund/commit to the continued staffing contract with AMR,” he wrote.
Jovanovich wrote that AMR is unable to provide additional ambulances beyond the four leased units “given some other immediate asset needs in neighboring Florida and Georgia markets.”
He said the company remains open to working with Sumter County in the future.
Last month, Sumter County commissioners voted 3-2 to reject substantial increases in fire assessment fees that support both fire departments after speakers strongly opposed them during a five-hour public hearing.
Based on a June 30 study by Benesch of Tampa, proposed increases would have boosted the annual fees to $323.43 for homeowners and calculated fees based on square footage for commercial, industrial and institutional property.
An owner of two campgrounds said her annual fire assessment fee would rise to $490,000 under the square footage calculation.
Rejecting the higher fees means severe budget cuts for the two fire departments of $14 million for The Villages and $12 million for Sumter County.
Sumter County Fire Chief Rob Hanson said he will need to lay off 30 firefighters and nix plans to hire 27 more employees in next year’s $24.2-million budget. Chief Brian Twiss of The Villages Public Safety Department said he will lose 57 new positions planned in next year’s $34.5-million budget.