EMS board weighs fees for outside towns

South County EMS Board of Oversight Meeting · Meeting of January 13, 2026

COLRAIN — The South County EMS Board of Oversight weighed charging outside towns for mutual aid after a board member's analysis found a roughly $212,000 funding gap. Board member Matt Russo said the service answered 587 mutual aid requests last year but transported patients, and billed, only 277 times, while member towns Deerfield, Sunderland and Whately already pay $444,000, $270,000 and $143,000 in assessments. "If we do help our neighbors, our neighbors should pay for the service that they're receiving," Russo said.

The board agreed to consult the Collins Center for Public Management at UMass Boston on fee options. Members also reported 903 calls so far this fiscal year, a new ambulance arriving this week, and tabled a Whately garage-space proposal pending long-term fleet decisions.

In the full story:

• The Full Story
• [00:51:05] — The EMS chief
• [01:02:01] — Matt Russo, board member
• [01:10:13] — Matt Russo, board member
• Why It Matters
• Key Motions & Votes
• Source
• Colrain's community access TV: South County EMS Board of Oversight meeting, January 13, 2026
• The complete report: 764 words

Source: the South County EMS Board of Oversight Meeting meeting of January 13, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.