Richland Center City Council discusses ambulance service

RICHLAND CENTER, Wis. (WRCO / WRCE) – The Richland Center City Council held a special meeting last night (Monday) to discuss an ambulance service for the city.

The contract with the county expires December 31. In September, the county sent out a new contract for the cooperating municipalities with a price hike to meet the demanding price hikes for materials and calls. The city’s increase was over $50,000.

The county is the only entity in the joint ambulance service area that can adopt a levy to cover the service. However, there has been no willingness for the county to adopt a levy for this purpose in 2026, and it is no longer possible to adopt a levy for the ambulance service as the county has to report its levy to the state by November 15. City Administrator, Ashley Oliphant, stated that a levy in the future is the only way to fund the ambulance service. She also stated that this is not a good contract, but it is a necessity.

Doug Martynik made a motion to have Oliphant negotiate with the county to finalize a contract for ambulance service for 2026 and have it reviewed by the council at a future date. It was seconded by Ron Fruit and passed unanimously.

Oliphant’s main concern is verbiage about the assets of the ambulance service. As currently stated, it seems the county owns all assets after assets were purchased by the joint ambulance association.

---