FARMINGTON – The cost of ambulance coverage is going up for 16 of the 26 towns and plantations covered by NorthStar Emergency Medical Services, based on a new funding formula unveiled Tuesday.

Towns with the largest tabs this year will see a decrease.

The funding formula covers fiscal 2008, which begins for towns on July 1, 2007.

Nearly 50 unorganized territories will also be affected, as well as the 26 towns and plantations.

NorthStar’s advisory board worked for two years to come up with a formula that would be fair for the 72 communities the company serves, Executive Director David Robie said.

In towns like Farmington, Wilton, New Portland and Jay, where subsidy amounts will decrease next year, town officials seemed to approve of the formula.

“In this day and age, whenever Wilton’s share of anything goes down, I’m a happy man,” Town Manager Peter Nielsen said. “They have quite a formula. And it looks to me like they’ve reckoned with as many different things there are to reckon with. For the town of Wilton, it’s good news.”

“I think it will be received very well,” said Andrea Riechert, New Portland’s town manager.

Livermore Falls will be paying $7,000-plus more in 2008 than this year – a 20 percent increase – but Town Manager Martin Puckett said the formula is fair.

“I was amazed,” he said. “I’m happy to see that it is equitable.” The town was notified about the increase early enough that officials have time to prepare for it, Puckett added.

From now on, all towns will be charged a flat fee of $4,000 to begin with. Unorganized territories will pay a fee of $400. Then, communities will be charged $11 per resident, according to the 2000 census.

The formula also factors in the number of housing units in each community. Communities with more units than people usually have a higher number of recreational visitors – and more ambulance runs, Robie said.

The formula charges $31 per unit.

In addition, communities’ residential valuation, according to the state’s figure for 2006, will be factored in at $0.075 cents per mill, Robie said.

Towns within 25 miles of Franklin Memorial Hospital will get a service discount, Robie said. But, to make sure no one is charged too much or too little in any given year, increases and decreases are capped at 20 and 10 percent, respectively.

Until now, NorthStar used different formulas in different areas, Robie said. It was important for the company to come up with a sustainable funding formula because NorthStar would operate at a deficit with just insurance income alone.

The ambulance service can charge insurance companies for each patient transported, Robie said. However, in rural areas, ambulances spend enough time waiting for calls that insurance income is offset by the service’s operating costs.

Even with the difficulties of operating in a rural area, NorthStar is one of the best ambulance services around, Franklin Memorial Hospital President Richard Batt said.

With Sugarloaf looming large in Carrabassett Valley, board member and Town Manager Dave Cota said his town cares most about keeping a high level of service. Despite a nearly $7,400 increase over this year, Cota said, he feels the formula will work. “I think there’s a lot to be said for this,” he said. “I think time will tell.”