Garner soon may say goodbye to the locally owned Emergency Medical Service. The Wake County Commissioners were set to vote Monday on whether the county should take over the Garner EMS; however, the item was pulled from the agenda.

According to Assistant Town Manager Rodney Dickerson, the Garner EMS is nearly $90,000 in debt.

However, he said, the debt is not due to misappropriated funds. Instead, Dickerson said the Garner EMS relies solely on billing and has the second lowest paid rate in Wake County at nearly 60 percent.

“The revenue is trickling in,” Dickerson said.

He also said there were clerical errors earlier this year. A computer error at the EMS and an error by a billing company that owed more than $54,000 at one point contributed to the debt.

“It’s a multifaceted issue,” Dickerson said.

Changes have been made within the agency to help cut costs; a position title was eliminated and changes were made to employees’ 401Ks and healthcare benefits.

However, Dickerson said, the $160,000 in savings over the course of a year would not be enough to fix the situation.

The Town knew of some unpaid bills totaling $75,000 in November, but revenue has continued to fall since then.

Administratively, the EMS Board was not aware of unpaid invoices before then, Dickerson said. Wake County’s role

The County oversees the locally owned and operated agency and has made it known that whenever the county deems it can cover the same area for a lesser cost to taxpayers, it has the right to take over the organization.

Dickerson said Wake County claims it can save $384,000 annually by taking over the Garner EMS responsibilities.

Even though the EMS Board believes this is just a blip and can be overcome, the County’s ability to do the job with a cheaper price tag for taxpayers has been a cause of concern.

“Garner has just lost a major employer, it is at risk of losing it’s regional library and now we are losing our hometown EMS agency. What will be next?” Chair of the Garner EMS and Rescue Squad Phillip Penny said in a letter sent out to the media last week.

The Garner EMS was expected to request that Wake County appropriate $200,000 to help get the contracted agency out of the red. However, Dickerson said Wake County has been asking for subsidiary funds back from towns that received the money in the past.

Garner EMS’s assets and associated debt, total $323,331.75. If Wake County had voted to take over Garner’s EMS responsibilities, commissioners were expected to approve nine paramedic and nine emergency medical technician positions. These spots would most likely have been given to Garner EMS workers.

Dickerson said the County would not allow patient care to be compromised by the Commissioners’ decision.

While the Town is concerned about the issue, Council members have no official capacity to stop the County Commissioners. Penny wrote in his letter asking residents to send letters to Town Council members asking for help.