During public comment at the Buncombe County Commissioners’ last meeting, several members of MEDIC asked the board to please help them get a franchise. It took me awhile to figure out what was going on, but it appears MEDIC is a private ambulance company that has had a franchise with the county. The county, which says it is always seeking public/private partnerships to keep taxes low, now has an ordinance that limits franchises to five-year terms. So, MEDIC had to reapply.
Both the Emergency Services Department and the fire chiefs whose departments operate ambulances recommended that the franchise request be denied. Emergency Services balked because the company provided a balance sheet instead of the required audited financial statement “in such form and detail as the county may require.” Secondly,”The current Buncombe County EMS plan does not support inserting a private franchise into the emergency response plan.” The fire chiefs were concerned the dispatchers would get confused. What’s more, they would lose money if MEDIC were cutting into market share, and revenue lost from government must be recouped in the form of higher taxes. In other words, if you say, “taxpayer” enough, idiots masquerading as fiscal conservatives, such as I, are supposed to hop on the bandwagon.
On a bright note, special thanks go out to County Attorney Michael Frue for providing a detailed response to my inquiry.
