Tues. Nov. 6, the Oxford City Council met to discuss a renewal of agreements with Milford County for providing emergency services and to outline several budget issues within the upcoming year.
"We outlined about $33 million dollars for 2013 tonight," Bob Blackburn, Oxford City Council member said.
The Oxford city budget for the fiscal year that ends Dec. 31, 2013 has increased $6,000 from last year. The budget outlines all expenses for the city of Oxford within the upcoming year, including city services such as sanitation and road maintenance. The budget also outlines rates for any fees and charges within the city for the fiscal year. These include resident prices for things such as parking fines, athletic field rental fees, or various zoning and building permits.
In addition to budget outlines, city council also passed a resolution that has effectively renewed an agreement with Milford Township. This resolution, which enables Oxford to provide emergency medical services to the western portion of Milford Township, is renewed on an annual basis and is negotiated by Oxford's City Manager, Douglas Elliott. These medical services include use of two of Oxford's emergency medical technicians as well as emergency transportation to McCullough-Hyde hospital.
"[The City of Oxford] provides the western portion of Milford Township with emergency medical services (EMS) under a year-long contract. This year, the contract at hand has called for some adjustment," Elliott said.
This agreement with Milford Township allows for the western area to take advantage of Oxford city medical services. As a result, Milford Township pays the city of Oxford an annual sum to cover these emergency services. This annual sum is based on the number of calls that Oxford's emergency medical services have received in the previous year, according to Elliott.
"We subtract the calls that are paid for by Medicare or insurance companies from the year's total sum [of emergency medical costs]," Elliott said. "We then take what expenses are left up to the city of Oxford, and charge Milford Township for their portion of the costs."
Based on the amount of emergency medical calls from the area last year, the agreement calls for Milford to pay Oxford $10,200, a $2,000 increase from last year's payments.
This, then, will hopefully cover all EMS expenses for Milford Township within the next year, according to Elliott.
Enjoy what you're reading?
Signup for our newsletter
Read More
How one professor and her classes are preserving Oxford’s Black history
By Sean Scott | March 20, 2024Jazma Sutton, an assistant professor of history, teaches The Black Midwest (HST 350Q) and Black Women in America (HST 450D) classes. In both courses, she has students working with the Smith Library of Regional History and Miami’s archives to document and preserve Black history in Oxford.
Miami faculty members recount Freedom Summer in new documentary
By Luke Macy | February 25, 2022After seven years of work, “Training for Freedom,” a documentary highlighting Oxford’s involvement in the Freedom Summer of 1964, premiered on PBS Western Reserve on Valentine’s Day.
“Documenting the COVID-19 Pandemic”: History in the making
By Alice Momany | August 29, 2021In March 2020, Miami University’s archives launched “Documenting the COVID-19 Pandemic,” a collection focused on life during the COVID-19 pandemic.