No decisions were made Tuesday on how the Joint Emergency Medical Services district will provide services to residents of Franklin Twp. and Carlisle starting on Jan. 2.

If anything, there were more questions raised on how much money would actually be available once the city of Franklin leaves the district to begin its own EMS services.

Board member Ron Ruppert, who represents the township, said he wanted to know if JEMS could provide two EMS units to cover the village of Carlisle, the eastern township, the Hunter area and the western portion of the township across the Great Miami River. JEMS officials said earlier this year that if a tax levy failed in November, it would reduce service levels to running one unit to cover the entire district.

“Everyone believes that staffing two ambulances is better than running one ambulance,” Ruppert said.

Ruppert said finances will be tight as the official split of assets, property and debt has yet to be done. And when Franklin departs from the district, so does an estimated 47 percent of the tax revenues for JEMS, he said.

On top of that, the Warren County Auditor’s Office cannot provide a firm number in projected revenues until the middle of December, officials said.

The 2013 tax and billing revenue for the JEMS district is estimated at $580,000 and the carryover from the 2012 budget going into 2013 was estimated at $175,000, said JEMS Fiscal Officer Scot Fromeyer. The district’s payroll for a full-time chief and fiscal officer and 50 part-time paramedics and medics is budgeted at $850,000 for 2012 to provide coverage in all three areas. Once Franklin leaves the district, those costs most likely will go down.

A proposed permanent 2.61-mill property tax levy that would have generated $733,000 a year in additional revenues for the JEMS district was rejected in the Nov. 6 general election. The proposed levy passed in Carlisle and the unincorporated areas of Franklin Twp., but was rejected by voters in the city of Franklin who were permitted to vote on the issue, even though city voters approved a tax levy in August to provide funding for EMS services to be added to the Franklin Division of Fire.

JEMS officials are considering placing a levy on the ballot possibly in May 2013.

Ruppert, and fellow board member Scott Borschert, who represents Carlisle, said they needed additional information on what the actual costs of running two EMS units as well as running one EMS unit and a first-responder unit. They scheduled another special meeting for 6 p.m. Dec. 6 and expect to have a decision made by its regular meeting, which was re-scheduled for 6 p.m. Dec. 13. Both meetings will be at the JEMS Building on East Sixth Street in Franklin.

The board has also heard a proposal to cut the hourly wage by $1.50 an hour for a paramedic and 75 cents an hour for an EMT. One resident at Tuesday’s meeting said if there are any pay cuts, it should be across the board. Ruppert responded that “no one expects the paramedics or EMTs to take a pay cut alone. I won’t vote for that.”

He also told another resident that the JEMS district would have mutual aid agreements with neighboring jurisdictions, including the city of Franklin, to make sure there is EMS coverage. Ruppert said if a levy is placed on the ballot it would be for the same amount as the levy was on Nov. 6.

After the meeting, Ruppert said, “tonight I feel that we’ll be able to run two ambulances, but there are still a lot of pieces to fit into place. We’re still estimating a lot and we don’t want to make additional cuts in the middle of 2013.

Ruppert said it’s very unfortunate for the district and its employees.

“Their morale is actually not bad and our employees have come to our meetings to listen after the levy failed and have offered suggestions,” he said. “Our residents are concerned if we’ll be able to maintain our ambulance coverage. They’re also concerned about EMS coverage in the coming year.”