GATE CITY — The Scott County Board of Supervisors met Monday evening for the last hearing on the fiscal year 2026 budget.
EMS Association President Roger Carter and Vice President Wendell Burke were the sole contributors to the public comment portion of the hearing. Both thanked the board for supporting better pay for EMS personnel with the 2026 budget.
“I just came this afternoon to let you all know how I appreciate everything you’ve done, and especially for fire, EMS and first responders,†Burke said. “We had a big hurdle to cross, and I think we’re going to get across that hurdle. You set a high bar for other localities to help take care of EMS, and I hope everybody else pays attention to what Scott County’s done.â€
After a budget workshop and meeting earlier this month, the board voted 4-2 to ask the Scott County School Board for $300,000 from the division’s current budget to help fund a $5 an hour pay raise for most medical personnel across the county’s three EMS agencies.
Carter previously said this would allow the squads to raise pay scales for up to 18 full-time equivalent positions, as well as improve the retention of experienced staff.
“Getting this to work where they’re not making subpar money means a lot to them, means a lot to me,†Carter added. “It means we can keep the EMS strong, fire strong, and hopefully businesses will see that we’ve got them protected.â€
Minor changes
County Accounting Manager Bart Shelton shared some adjustments to the budget ahead of the finalized version to be voted on next week.
Shelton said it was brought to his attention that one of the previously listed capital projects regarding capitalized software will not be completed until the end of next year.
“So we don’t have that capital in the budget,†Shelton said. “It’s only 15% of the project that won’t be finished, and it’s a total of $20,905.â€
Supervisor Chair Chris Maness asked if those funds would carry over from this year for the project. Shelton said essentially the money would become part of the general fund since it wasn’t spent at this time.
Shelton also mentioned an AppCAA grant, also referred to as the Appalachian Community Action & Development Agency, totaling $37,000 that should have been moved to the general fund.
He recommended removing the budget line item for the grant entirely as it moved into the appropriate place.
Lastly, he mentioned changes within the regional improvement fund to make the budget “cleaner looking.†He said this doesn’t increase the amount of money going toward the lifesaving crew and rescue squads, it just changes where it is coming from.
“I know we originally had budgeted to move money to the school system from there,†Shelton said. “I have moved all of that money into the general fund, and I’ve increased what was in there all to go to the life saving crew.â€
The money being earmarked for EMS from the school will now come from the general fund, he said. County Supervisor Eddie Skeen asked if the decided upon $225,000 would be considered a “contribution†from the school division.
Dingus explained that the monetary amount came from the difference in the budget amount of students versus the actual amount of enrolled students during the year. He said there were 68 fewer students than budgeted for the year.
He specified that the $225,000 was not money the school system was giving to shore up EMS, and the money was what “the county didn’t owe the school system in the first place.â€
Maness said the board is still “fully funding†the school division and meeting every funding obligation for them, including discretionary funds.
The budget will be set for final approval by the board at a meeting on Monday, June 30 at 1 p.m. inside the board meeting room, 190 Beech St., Gate City.
