Selma approves over $100k funding increase for Schertz EMS

Schertz EMS provides emergency medical on-call service and transports to the cities of Northeast San Antonio, such as Selma, Schertz, Cibolo, Universal City and Live Oak.

All five cities amended interlocal agreements with the organization this summer. Selma and Schertz chose the option of 35%, 5% and 5% increases; while Cibolo, Universal City and Live Oak chose an option of 20%, 20% and 5% increases.

According to a presentation sent to partner cities by Schertz EMS Director Jason Mabbitt, the average response time to a call in Selma is 8.5 minutes.

Offering input

Mabbitt sent a presentation to partner cities laying out reasoning for the amendments. He said employee pay and additional staffing, coupled with inflationary costs and bad debt, have put the organization at a cash shortfall.

The estimated FY 24-25 shortfall for the organization is $300,879.

Selma Mayor Tom Daly said that although he appreciates the services of Schertz EMS, he doesn’t enjoy frequent agreement amendments.

“Hopefully, [you] have these plans to take care of all those situations with your trucks, with [employee] pay increases, with the burden of people not paying,” Daly said.