Montgomery County seeks for $1.26M ambulance bus
Harris County budget director proposes $2.24B in spending
BY KYLEE HAUETER
there’s a number of things we could use this for,” Millsaps said. Millsaps said there are four other such vehicles in the region, including in Atascocita. Millsaps said at the Aug. 23 meeting that a few weeks prior the county office of emergency man- agement had ordered the ambus from Atascocita to respond to a fire at a convalescent home in Willis, but it took too long to arrive. James Campbell, chief of emergency medical services for the county, said the purchase of the vehicle would prevent the need to take multiple other vehicles out of service for a large event. In the case that multiple vehicles are responding to an event, service in the rest of the county is significantly affected. If the ARPA approval goes through, the county would have the ambus by April 1.
The Montgomery County Commissioners Court approved the purchase of a multipatient trans- port vehicle—an ambus, or medical ambulance bus—pending federal American Rescue Plan Act approval, at its Aug. 23 meeting. The vehicle, equipped with advanced medical monitoring and communications equipment, would cost $1,255,952, according to information at the meeting. The vehicle would only be purchased if reimbursement through ARPA is approved, according to officials. Jason Millsaps, executive director of the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Man- agement for the county, said the vehicle would function in public health components, large-scale events and mass-casualty circumstances. “It could be used for infusions, vaccine drives;
BY RACHEL CARLTON
Daniel Ramos, executive director of the Harris County Office of Management and Budget, presented the proposed budget for fiscal year 2022-23 during the Aug. 23 meeting of Commissioners Court. The $2.24 billion operating budget is based on a county tax rate of $0.36035 per $100 of assessed value. This is lower than the voter-approval rate— the maximum rate allowed under Senate Bill 2—of $0.36054, calculated by Tax Assessor-Collector Ann Harris Bennett. SB 2 requires a city or county to hold an election if it proposes collecting greater than 3.5% more revenue than in the previous year. The proposed budget allocates $1.43 billion for justice and safety, which accounts for 64% of the budget and is a 10.7% increase from the previous year. If commissioners did not agree to a tax rate before Sept. 6, hearings for both the tax rate and the budget would occur on Sept. 13 and would be adopted Sept. 19 or 20. Sept. 30 is the latest date the budget can be adopted, Ramos said.
ABOUT THE AMBUS A $1.26 million medical ambulance bus could be funded through the American Rescue Plan Act.
An ambus is a medical ambulance bus providing multipatient transport for:
• large-scale events • vaccine drives • mass-casualty circumstances and public health needs
FUNDING SOURCE: FEDERAL AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT (PENDING) SOURCE: MONTGOMERY COUNTY/COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
WDL
THE WOODLANDS 10491 Kuykendahl • 281-681-9110 RAYFORD SAWDUST 25044 IH 45 • 281-362-9131 FM 1488 3588 FM 1488 • 936-271-9606 OAK RIDGE NORTH 27490 IH 45 N • 281-296-6000 GOSLING ROAD SPRING 24527 Gosling Rd • 281-516-9404
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