Gaming company to pay for ambulance service
Posted on Tuesday, January 6, 2009
BENTON COUNTY - The gaming and hospitality company that operates Cherokee Casino in West Siloam Springs, Okla., has ensured that emergency medical services will continue in the town and at the casino this year.
Cherokee Nation Enterprises will pay about $200,000 to keep Siloam Springs' ambulances coming into West Siloam Springs.
"Cherokee Casino is just a part of the community in West Siloam Springs," said Shawn Slaton, senior vice president of Cherokee Nation Enterprises. "We felt it was important to make sure that in the short term there would be continuous service to the community, and we are happy to do our part."
Elaine Carr, mayor of West Siloam Springs, signed the $202,000 ambulance contract between the town and Siloam Springs on Wednesday.
"I'm just thankful that the day has finally arrived," Carr said.
Carr signed the contract at the Siloam Springs City Hall in front of former mayor M.L. "Moose" Van Poucke and Siloam Springs Mayor David Allen, who was sworn in as mayor Jan. 1. Van Poucke signed the contract after the Siloam Springs Board of Directors approved the contract in October.
"Cherokee Casino has stepped up to help West Siloam Springs residents temporarily until we can get a sales tax passed," Carr said. "I don't know what we would have done without Cherokee Casino."
West Siloam Springs will look to approve a 1-cent sales tax to help pay for the service. The tax would raise about $72,000 annually. An election on the tax may be held in April.
"We don't want a free ride," Carr said.
The annual charge for the ambulance service is $202,000.
"We appreciate the effort of Mayor Carr, the town council of West Siloam Springs and the city of Siloam Springs to provide these services to West Siloam Springs' citizens," Slaton said.
West Siloam Springs residents who are transported by a Siloam Springs ambulance will continue to be charged the cost to be taken to the hospital, plus a 5 percent surcharge, said Jessi Castagna, communication assistant for the city of Siloam Springs.
The EMS contract between West Siloam Springs and Siloam Springs will expire Oct. 31, 2009, but will automatically be renewed annually until 2013. The town or the city could opt to end the contract sooner if a 60-day notice is given.
The first bill will be sent to West Siloam Springs in February, City Attorney Jay Williams said. The bill will include the cost of ambulance service for January.
Siloam Springs' ambulance service into Oklahoma ended Wednesday, except for West Siloam Springs. The town is the only part of Oklahoma that will receive ambulance service from Siloam Springs.
The city has looked at charging Benton County residents who live outside the city for ambulance service.
A committee of Benton County fire chiefs and people affiliated with emergency medical service will look into the issue sometime early this year, Castagna said.
"Siloam has been good to us," Carr said. "People just don't have an understanding of what it costs."
West Siloam Springs looked into buying an ambulance, but the vehicle alone would cost $450,000, Carr said. That price doesn't include the paramedics or emergency medical technicians to operate the ambulance.
West Siloam Springs and Siloam Springs recently signed other contracts for fire, water and sewer services.
Cherokee Casino is also paying $75,000 annually for the fire-service contract, Carr said.
"Without Cherokee Casino helping us, West Siloam Springs would be in a financial burden with water, sewer, fire and EMS service," she said.
Oklahoma residents who need ambulance service but live outside of West Siloam Springs will be redirected to an Adair County or a Delaware County dispatcher if they reach a Siloam Springs 911 dispatcher, City Administrator David Cameron said.
Other Oklahoma towns such as Watts, Colcord and Kansas, and parts of Adair and Delaware counties will now depend on Oklahoma ambulance services from Westville, Oaks, Jay, Tahlequah and Stilwell.
Oklahoma law requires the nearest ambulance to respond to an emergency. The law does not impact Arkansas ambulance services.
The Oklahoma towns and counties have looked at several options to pay for ambulance service:
· A 3-mill property tax;
· A utility-bill tax; and
· A phone tax.
"It will take state legislation to pass a bill to have a state tax on cell-phone and land-line bills," Carr said. "We are trying to pass a 3-mill tax on the Moseley, Colcord and Kansas, Okla., school districts."
Siloam Springs had offered ambulance service in Oklahoma since the late 1960s.
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