Bonner County Ambulance board outlines multi-year budget plan and considers advisory council overhaul

At its June 17 meeting the Bonner County Ambulance Service District reviewed a task list that identified creating a multi-year budget plan and clarifying the district’s legal relationship with the county as high priorities.

The chair said once the FY27 budget is adopted the board should develop multi-year projections that define when the ambulance district will be budget neutral. Board members agreed to consult the county’s attorney (mentioned in discussion as Nate Adams) and the ambulance district’s attorney to determine the next legal steps for asset and investment coordination between the county and the district.

Members also discussed Ordinance 456, which established an advisory council. Several commissioners questioned whether the council’s current quarterly cadence and scope remain valuable. The board debated whether the council should be restructured to include representatives from each commissioner district (Clark Fork, Priest Lake, etc.) and whether partner agencies should present standardized clinical benchmarks at advisory meetings so the medical director can evaluate protocols across agencies.

One participant noted that the advisory meetings currently focus on clinical benchmarks — for example IV success rates and other operational metrics — and suggested shifting the council to a more focused, actionable agenda (perhaps semiannual or annual) tied to pre-budget review. ‘‘If each agency brings the same data and the medical director evaluates it, we can decide whether protocols or training should change,’’ a commissioner said.

The board did not make ordinance changes at the meeting; members agreed to pilot the partner-agency data approach for a few iterations and then consider whether to revise the advisory council resolution or meeting frequency based on results.

The board closed this item by asking staff to consult counsel and return proposed next steps for both the multi-year budget plan and the legal coordination with the county.