Wakefield EMS requests funds from Little Britain

When: Little Britain supervisors meeting, Sept. 10.

What happened: Wakefield EMS is asking the township for more than $90,000 for 2025 to support the ambulance service.

Background: The organization's biweekly payroll for staff earning $15.50 to $16.50 per hour is $16,000, Phil Mahan, president of Wakefield's board of directors, said. This level of staffing does not allow the organization to provide coverage 24 hours per day, seven days a week, he said. To reach full-time coverage with two new staff members and to raise emergency medical technicians' pay to $21 to $22 per hour would cost $465,000 to run one ambulance in 2025, Mahan said.

More: Funding the ambulance would cost $22 per resident of the township, Mahan said. Currently, the township only taxes its residents based on their assessed property values and does not have a per capita tax, Margaret DeCarolis, secretary/treasurer, said.

The cost: The township gave $8,000 to Wakefield for 2024. The township tax rate of 0.31 mills generates revenue of $103,793, DeCarolis said. To generate the funding requested, taxes would have to be doubled, she said.

What's next: The board will hold a budget work session on Oct. 8, following the next board of supervisors meeting.

Produce wash water: A new ordinance addressing the disposal of produce wash water will still require water to be collected in a holding tank, but there may be circumstances in which it could be spread on land rather than pumped and hauled away, Rick Prettyman, sewage enforcement officer, said.

Background: Over the last several months, the township sought guidance from the state Department of Environmental Protection, following requests from organic farmers who did not want to collect produce water in a holding tank as they said they don't use chemicals to wash the produce or clean their equipment. They wanted to spread it on the ground, which the Department of Environmental Protection prohibited.

What's next: Prettyman expects the ordinance to be complete in the next few months.