The Morgan County Commission voted 2-1 today to double the ambulance fee.
The hour long meeting was unusually contentious, as both outgoing President Brad Close and Commissioner Joel Tuttle challenged Commissioner Bob Ford’s proposal to double the fee from $75 a year to $150 a year.
In the end, Close joined Ford in voting for the fee increase. Tuttle voted against.
Ford defended the initiative, vowing to work over the next year to search for additional revenues that might lead to a repeal of some or all of the fee increase.
Ford promised to work on a proposal to impose an ambulance fee on businesses and properties without residential structures.
Before voting against the $150 ambulance fee, Tuttle proposed an alternative fee of $125, which he said would raise enough to cover the county. Ford disagreed.
Close questioned the process the county used to put out the request for proposals. Ford defended the process. But in the end, Close sided with Ford to pass the new fee.