RANGELEY – There will be ambulance services to the unorganized townships next year, according to Franklin County Clerk Julie Magoon.

Rangeley Town Manager Perry Ellsworth met with commissioners Monday to discuss the town’s proposed budget for the unorganized townships. After a lengthy discussion, commissioners voted not to approve $10,380 on Rangeley’s budget for ambulance service to the townships.

Three of the five selectmen attended a special meeting in Rangeley on Tuesday night to approve a liquor license and a casino night for the snowmobile club. Ellsworth also informed selectmen about the commissioners’ actions Monday. Selectmen took no action regarding the budget and there wasn’t much discussion, said Selectmen Mark Beauregard. Richard Morton and Donald Nuttall did not attend.

Magoon explained Wednesday that controversy about the ambulance budget for the unorganized territories stemmed from questions on the hospital’s billing and service contracts. She said the county pays the hospital directly for unorganized township service, and commissioners do not want to pay twice. The proposed ambulance budget for the unorganized townships for 2005-06 is $52,254.

“We’re not going to leave those people without ambulance service,” Magoon said. “Something needs to be clarified,” she said, adding that she planned to follow up with the hospital next week.

Nearby plantations – Rangeley, Dallas and Sandy River – will not lose ambulance service, either.

According to Rangeley Selectman Mark Beauregard, the plantations pay Rangeley directly, and Rangeley pays the hospital for the town and plantations.

Another related issue is an outstanding bill for ambulance services. A bill for $20,080 from 2003 for services rendered in 2002 was presented to commissioners by Ellsworth. Commissioners refused to pay it, saying that statutorily they cannot.

According to Magoon, the county cannot run at a deficit. They can only pay bills based on a predetermined budget, which has a contingency fund to be used only for major emergencies, she said. Once a fiscal year is closed out, the money is gone. The county’s and unorganized territories’ fiscal years run from July through June.

Beauregard said the town bills after the fact based on actual costs rather than a budgeted amount. He said Ellsworth was going to research last year’s budget and what they were paid.

“We don’t have the whole picture yet,” said Beauregard. “We may have to write that off,” he said in reference to the outstanding ambulance bill.