Local taxpayers probably don’t want to hear this – but the time to pay the EMS piper may be coming.

Council of Governments members recently continued their discussions of the county EMS crisis with the creation of a local EMS authority, a possible solution being tried in neighboring Forest County, falling out of favor with taxpayers there as well as facing an uphill battle in the state Legislature.

“When (Forest County) went to do assessments of property owners, the wheels kind of fell off,” said Troy Clawson, Youngsville councilman and COG member. “They were not prepared for the pushback from the taxpayers. We’ve been watching the Forest County model very closely. They had hoped for a lot of success and it did not work out that way. We thought we could wait on Harrisburg and we know that is a mistake.”

We hate to break it to everyone, but there are really only two solutions to the EMS crisis. One is to boost the number of volunteers able to respond to calls. That’s been a struggle locally and nationally for decades. The other solution is to pay for the service.

It really is that simple. The only reason this is a complex problem is that no one wants to pay for EMS. So for years we’ve tried new programs to coax new volunteers to join their local fire department while nibbling around the edges of paid EMS providers.

If we can’t get enough staffing for volunteer fire departments taxpayers will have to step in and foot the bill. It’s really a matter of when, not if. When a county-backed program happens, it’s important not to make the same mistakes as Chautauqua County, our neighbor to the north, when it created a county-backed fly car program. The system works well, backstopping volunteer fire departments at times when the volunteer EMTs were struggling to be able to respond. It has been expanded over the years because the need for emergency response was so great.

But when county lawmakers there approved the program they did so based on the assumption the program would pay for itself with fees for service. That hasn’t happened. So learn the lesson now. If we do have to go to a taxpayer-backed system here, assume that taxpayers will see a county tax increase to pay for the program.

The EMS problem is one we can solve. The real issue is no one likes the solution.