State Rep. David Thomas, a Republican who represents parts of Trumbull County, introduced legislation to mandate that every Ohio community provide emergency medical service while encouraging them to share services, which he said will lower costs to taxpayers.

“It forces entities to come to the table to combine or share services,” said Thomas, R-Jefferson. “It helps property owners by having communities share services.”

The bill mandates all cities, townships and villages to provide EMS similar to the requirement for police and fire protection while also creating an incentive of state grant funding to communities that combine or create formal shared services, Thomas said.

The proposal is currently written to offer $100,000 or 50% of operations for the first year following the combination of fire responder departments, but that can be changed, Thomas said.

Thomas’ cosponsor on the bill is state Rep. Thomas Hall, R-Madison.

Thomas said: “We are seeing small governments not able or willing to provide EMS services and instead relying on the taxpayers from other areas to foot the bill. That’s not fiscally responsible or in the best interest of the community.”

After the first year, communities would still have to maintain EMS, but wouldn’t get state funding.

Thomas said: “It’s not as big a cost as some people think. You have the buildings and you have some of the equipment. The costs might be moving part-timers to full time.” A new ambulance alone costs as much as $400,000, Thomas acknowledged.

“By combining, you can share ambulance services or buy one ambulance for combined communities,” he said. “It’s the impetus for communities to share services. Some townships are already doing it.”

Thomas said the bill, if passed, could help lower property taxes because of combined services.

Some communities pay for private ambulance services, such as Youngstown. The city signed a three-year contract in December 2022 to pay $3.97 million to Emergency Management Transport to provide ambulance services. The city used American Rescue Fund dollars for the three-year payment. The contract expires at the end of this year and the city cannot use ARP funds to continue funding the service.

In Boardman, voters rejected a 4.5-mill levy in November to raise $6.1 million annually for five years to support the township’s existing ambulance, which was purchased in 2023, and to add two more. It also would have ensured staffing for all three to ensure the township’s three fire stations had an ambulance ready at all times.

Boardman has a contract with Lane LifeTrans to station two ambulances in the township, but those units serve other communities in Mahoning and Trumbull counties.

Before the levy failed, Boardman sought to merge its fire department with Canfield’s Cardinal Joint Fire District because of ambulance response times and staffing issues. Canfield City Council rejected the proposal in March 2024.

The city of Cortland is building a new safety service complex that Thomas said “can be used as a hub to provide services to surrounding communities.”

“Our taxpayers cannot continue to pay for the equipment, personnel and structures in every entity for each of our counties,” Thomas said. “Our goal is to meet that reality with an encouragement to broaden the base of taxpayers contributing to the cost of services.”