County To Transfer $400,000 From Ambulance Fund to CD

RISON - County Treasurer Angie Kimsey informed the Cleveland County Quorum Court Monday night that she will be transferring $400,000 from the ambulance fund into a certificate of deposit (CD) to possibly earning enough earned interest to pay the monthly subsidy used to maintain the ambulance service in the county.Meanwhile, the quorum court also discussed during its regular monthly meeting the possibility of allowing an amateur radio club to put an antenna at the old nursing home property in Rison, approved grants and aids for a number of local organizations, and decided to table a decision on raising the deposit fee for using the Hall-Morgan Veterans Building for private gatherings.During her monthly financial report to the quorum court, Kimsey pointed out that the balance in the ambulance fund account had reached $848,149.05 as of the end of October. When the balance reaches $800,000, she said that is basically a signal that she can safely invest some of that money into a CD while having enough left in the fund to continue paying the subsidy.Cleveland County collects a 0.25 percent sales tax to support a local ambulance service. The county currently has a contract with Emergency Ambulace Service, Inc. (EASI) of Pine Bluff to have an ambulance stationed at Rison for that purpose. The county's contract with the EASI is based on sliding scale suing determined by the number of "paid" calls the service receives each month. Paid calls refers to those ambulance calls that would be paid for by insurance or another source. The more paid calls the service receives, the lower the monthly subsidy. If the service receives 62 paid calls in a month, there is no subsidy charged for that month.Kimsey said in an interview after the meeting that the county usually pays about $1,600 per month to subsidize the ambulance service. Based on current interest rates, the $400,000 could generate about $1,400 per month.However, the ambulance fund already ...