Hastings City Council Approves County Ambulance Agreement

(Hastings, NE) - The Hastings City Council has approved a new, five-year interlocal agreement with Adams County for emergency ambulance service. Council members voted 7-0 to approve the agreement Monday, March 25 during the council’s regular meeting at the Hastings Municipal Airport Terminal. The contract still needs approval by the Adams County Board of Commissioners at an upcoming meeting. 

The agreement is scheduled to take effect July 1 and run through June 30, 2029. A negotiating team consisting of city council members and county commissioners has been working on this updated contract since December of 2021. In addition to negotiations
meetings, multiple stakeholder meetings were held to get input of local volunteer fire district chiefs and boards.

This contract outlines the Advanced Life Support services the city will provide to the county, and a fair process to determine reimbursement for those services. The value of this contract for year one will be $98,436, with annual adjustments based on actual cost of service delivery and volume of calls under county authority. The fee is based on a formula looking at the actual cost of services over the last three fiscal years. The formula multiplies the cost of Emergency Ambulance Service by the percentage of calls in the county or jail.

There is a clause in the contract that allows either side to exit the contract with a one-year notification. Adams County shall pay the city in biannual payments due July 31 and Jan. 31 of each year. “We had really good negotiations with the county,” Hastings Fire and Rescue Chief Brad Starling said during the meeting. “We’ve been able to ensure that we can provide the level and quality of services they desire and that it is a reasonable cost reimbursement for the services we provide.”