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Chief Administrative Office, Emergency Medical Services and Emergency Preparedness and Response Division, recommending the Board:
1) Authorize the transfer of various Division operations from Special Revenue Funds to the County’s General Fund, with full reimbursement from Special Revenue Funds and other funding sources;
2) Authorize the establishment of general ledger accounts as needed for this transfer;
3) Authorize the use of $50,000 from the General Fund to fund the previously established ambulance billing refund imprest account; and
4) Approve and authorize the Chair to sign two (2) budget transfers reassigning estimated revenue and appropriations to the General Fund and appropriating the operating transfer to reimburse the General Fund for expenses incurred. (4/5 vote required)
FUNDING: CA Dept of Public Health grants, Special taxes, Ambulance fees and miscellaneous Division revenues.
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DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
On July 1, 2019 the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Emergency Preparedness (EP) programs transferred from HHSA to the CAO’s office. At the time of the transfer, several Special Revenue Funds (SRFs) were established for the operations of the programs. Routine operating expenditures, such as payroll, services, and supplies, are incurred in the SRFs. These expenditures are later reimbursed by grant funding or operating transfers in from County Service Area funds.
During the course of Fiscal Year 2019-20, there were extended periods of the SRFs having negative cash balances. Because the funding streams for EMS and EP programs are both on a reimbursement basis, it is anticipated that negative cash balances will be ongoing.
After reviewing several options to alleviate ongoing cash balance issues in the Division’s SRFs, staff are recommending that the operating expenditures for the Division be incurred and accounted for in the General Fund instead of in SRFs. Reimbursement from grant and County Service Area funds will then be applied to ...
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