The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors voted to allow rescue squad services provided by county employees to be charged for at its Sept. 9 meeting. Leaders of the area’s volunteer rescue squads watched the proceeding warily, apprehensive that continued county contributions for their equipment and operating expenses will be tied to their adopting the same policy.

The authorizing ordinance does not set the fee, but says it will be “reasonable.” The board will set the fee and work out other details at a later date. County Attorney Larry Davis assured the Supervisors that the charge would be “compassionately” administered and that “No one will be denied emergency medical services because of an inability to pay.”

Supervisor Dennis Rooker noted that the ambulance service charges will likely be paid by private insurance companies or Medicare or Medicaid, as if those revenues do not ultimately derive from individuals and taxes.

Forty jurisdictions in Virginia now have such an ordinance, the board was told, including Louisa and Orange Counties. Virginia has 100 counties and 40 cities.

David Zimmerman, a “life member” volunteer with the Charlottesville/Albemarle Rescue Squad who has donated thousands of hours to running calls, was the sole citizen to comment on the proposal. He said he did not speak for CARS, but as a taxpayer.

“You got into the ambulance business and we advised you not to because it would cost you a lot of money. Now you need to recover money,” he said. “We don’t need Supervisors to supervise professionals. Get out of the ambulance business. It’s costing taxpayers and we don’t need to do it. We have CARS. Please remember the taxpayers of Albemarle are paying for all of this for you. We are spending way too much and we need to get a handle on it.”

Rooker responded that 80 percent of Virginians live in jurisdictions that charge for ambulance service and Albemarle is “behind the curve in this case. This would be good stewardship of taxpayer money.”

Rooker and White Hall District Supervisor Ann Mallek had been meeting with leaders of the volunteer squads in advance of the vote. Mallek said, “We have go to get our volunteer agencies involved in this. Out-of-county residents who are being carried will be able to be billed for this.” Rooker noted that the Scottsville squad, for example, often transports residents of Buckingham and Fluvanna counties.

Kostas Alibertis of the Western Albemarle Rescue Squad said afterward that CARS and WARS had participated in meetings with county staffers where a press release about the ordinance was drafted.

“CARS and WARS are at a point where we want to see what the sentiment of the public is. Are they opposed? We’re here to serve them,” he said.

The county gives WARS $120,000 a year toward operational cost and also contributes to capital expenses, such as vehicles, too, he said. “We’re trying not to burn any bridges.” WARS foresees the need for a new crash truck that might cost as much as $500,000. The volunteers fear they might not be able to raise enough money if they were cut off from county support and had to raise all their operating funds from the community.