Osceola County reviews FY27 budgets, weighs redirecting PCC revenue to support ambulance service

The Osceola County Board of Supervisors met Jan. 13 to review proposed fiscal 2027 budgets and to discuss how to shore up ambulance finances as costs rise.

Speaker 6, presenting the ambulance budget, said the county proposes a 3% across-the-board pay increase and targeted pay bumps for emergency staffing. "The on-call pay was a dollar 77 an hour and I increased that to $2.50 and then the weekend was $3.55 an hour, and I increased that to $5," Speaker 6 said, citing changes intended to improve recruitment and retention. The presenter also proposed modest allocations for building maintenance and a $8,000 line for opioid-response funding.

Board members debated whether some PCC revenue should be redirected to the ambulance fund. Speakers 3 and 4 questioned why PCC collections were currently being recorded on the levy side while ambulance expenses were paid from the general fund. "We need to honor the requirements of the advisory council," Speaker 3 said, noting that code expects the local emergency medical service advisory council to make a levy recommendation before the board finalizes levy decisions.

The discussion centered on preserving transparency and matching revenue sources to expenses: several supervisors said returning PCC revenue to the ambulance levy would make EMS funding more sustainable, while others urged verifying advisory-council recommendations and legal compliance before reallocating funds.

Procedural actions at the meeting included approval of the Jan. 13 minutes by motion of the board. No final vote or ordinance was adopted on PCC revenue allocation; supervisors directed staff to request a formal advisory-council recommendation and to return with options for aligning budget lines and the levy.

What's next: board staff will seek the EMS advisory council's written recommendation and return proposed budget language and options for reallocating PCC revenue at a future meeting.