The City of Wauseon and the Village of Swanton have teamed up to hire an independent consultant to study Fulton County’s countywide emergency medical services (EMS) system, which leaders of both communities say is in financial crisis.
The two municipalities announced their joint Request for Proposal (RFP) in a Sept. 21 press release. The consultant, who must have no ties to Fulton County, would study the county’s EMS resources and recommend a more efficient and economically viable way to fund and deliver EMS.
“The emergency services provided by the dedicated men and women of our seven county fire departments are top notch,” Wauseon Mayor Kathy Huner said.
“Everyone associated with the county knows that EMS services in Fulton County are second to none. What most residents of Fulton County don’t know, though,” Huner continued, “is that the county’s EMS system is in a state of financial crisis.
“While the costs of providing emergency medical services have risen dramatically over the last 5 years, the EMS funds provided by the County Commissioners to the fire departments have and will remain the same for a 10 year period.
“EMS costs incurred by the fire departments now greatly exceed the funds provided by the County. As a result, several of the county’s municipalities, like Wauseon and Swanton, have been forced to dig deep into their own general funds to subsidize the EMS program.”
How The System Works
According to background included in the RFP, the county does not provide EMS directly. Instead, it contracts with the seven Fulton County entities that have fire departments: Wauseon, Archbold, Swanton, Delta, Gorham-Fayette, Lyons Royalton and Metamora Amboy.
It also contracts with the Morenci Area Emergency Medical Service in Michigan and Providence Township Fire and Rescue in Lucas County.
For all but Wauseon and Swanton, the county provides and maintains the ambulances, supplies medical supplies and some equipment, and handles billing and keeps the billing money. Wauseon and Swanton own their own ambulances, buy their own supplies and do their own billing.
The contracts are paid for by a countywide five-year EMS levy. Voters passed the latest levy, 4.5 mills, in May 2026, the same amount as the levy passed in 2021.
It will raise about $5.4 million a year for five years starting Jan. 1, 2027. The county also collects about $1 million a year from billing for runs, used mainly for medical supplies and ambulances for the departments other than Wauseon and Swanton.
The RFP states that each of the seven county entities receives roughly the same amount, regardless of how many runs it makes or how many people it serves.
It says the county’s funding is meant to cover ambulances, drugs and one full-time EMT and one full-time paramedic per department, not the full cost of service. It also states the county holds a reserve of about $5 million, and the roughly $175,000 a year in interest it earns goes into the county’s general fund, not the EMS program.
With the new levy, county EMS funding will have stayed the same for 10 years while costs have risen, according to the document. It says departments are using large amounts of general fund money to cover EMS, and that a second, local EMS levy is not likely to pass with voters.
Calling For A New Approach
According to the release, the county commissioners and the elected officials of the county’s city, villages and townships agree almost unanimously that a new funding and delivery system is needed, but there has been no concerted effort to come together and address the problem.
“That is what the RFP is intended to do,” Swanton Mayor Neil Toeppe said. “The purpose of the RFP is to retain an independent person or company, with no ties at all to the county, who will conduct an unbiased review of our county’s great resources and provide us feedback and recommend possible ways to more efficiently fund and operate the county’s EMS system.”
What The Study Would Cover
The consultant would look at options including one or more EMS districts, merging one or more departments, a combination of the two, or keeping or changing the current countywide program, along with what role, if any, the county should play.
The work would include an inventory of each department’s vehicles and equipment, a review of the condition and location of fire stations, a look at staffing, and an analysis of funding sources for the county, the city, and each village and township.
The consultant would also study response times and service levels and project costs over the immediate term and five, 10 and 20 years.
The consultant would hold meetings, surveys and focus groups with fire chiefs, department staff, elected officials, community members and partner agencies.
The final product would include a written report, a plain-language summary for the public, and a presentation at an open public meeting.
Proposals would be scored on approach and work plan (35 percent), qualifications and experience (30 percent), fees (25 percent), and stakeholder engagement and reporting (10 percent).
Next Steps
In a Sept. 17 letter to Fulton County Commissioners Joe Short, president; Jeff Rupp, vice president; and R.J. Lumbrezer, the two mayors asked to present the RFP at an upcoming open board meeting.
The letter says Wauseon and Swanton had each asked the board, in separate letters dated Aug. 17, to call a meeting of elected officials from the seven municipalities whose fire departments provide EMS, and that the board had not agreed to hold one.
According to the release, the two towns and the board are working to schedule a meeting. The mayors also hope the other five entities with fire departments will support the RFP and sign on to it.