Staff photo by Fritz Busch Sleepy Eye Ambulance Service staff from left, Emergency Medical Technicians Kevin Olson and Gloria Nachreiner and Emergency Medical Responder Deanne Ibberson. Not pictured, ambulance coordinator Shari Hittesdorf, Alicia Zuhlsdorf, Gary Lambrecht, Bob Paulson, Natalie Sellner, Katie Trebesch-Waterbury, Lori Neidecker, Ana Hernandez, Ashtyn Tauer, Alicia Lozano.

SLEEPY EYE — Sleepy Eye Ambulance Coordinator Shari Hittesdorf said it’s good to get one-time emergency ambulance service aid but it would be even better to get funding on a permanent basis.

Sleepy Eye Ambulance Service will receive $97,132.67 in total aid as part of $24 million in emergency ambulance service aid appropriated by the Minnesota Legislature this year.

Hittesdorf said ambulance funding demands are great after the Sleepy Eye City Council unanimously approved a $293,302 state bid for a new ambulance and power lift ambulance cot to be delivered in 2026. The ambulance bid is $103,302 more than Sleepy Eye’s new 2017 ambulance.

“Small ambulance services like ours don’t make profits. Medicare doesn’t reimburse us when we make ambulance runs when a person falls. Plus, we have to be ready to make runs at any time. It costs money,” she said.

Sleepy Eye City Manager Bob Elston told the city council Tuesday that the 2025 city tax levy is up 9.1% largely due to lower Medicare reimbursement rates for ambulance patients that caused the City of Sleepy Eye to add $105,950 to the tax levy to make up the difference in 2025.

Elston said the one-time emergency ambulance service aid amount is smaller than the $110,000 in aid he mentioned last summer.

“I hope they (legislators) can come with with a lasting solution to this next year,” he said.

Elston suggested all the 2025 emergency ambulance aid be used to buy a new ambulance.

For now, Sleepy Eye Ambulance Service is using 2010 and 2017 ambulances with more than 100,000 miles on them.

The Minnesota Department of Revenue (DOR) and Emergency Medical Services Regulatory Board have verified application data and certified one-time emergency ambulance service aid amounts to be sent to service providers Dec. 26.

Any funds not spent on, or encumbered for, eligible uses by Dec. 31, 2025, must be returned to the commissioner of revenue and canceled to the general fund.

Area ambulance service providers and their total one-time aid amounts: Arlington $103,032,09; Buffalo Lake $68,250.96; Fairfax $64,709.25; Gaylord $85,841.30; Hector $59,350.63; Lafayette $51,671.07; Lake Crystal $104,876,38; Lamberton $65,418.52; Madelia $109,398.01; Morgan $55,368.57; Olivia $145,077.69; Sleepy Eye $97,132.67; Springfield $89,767.77; St. James $115,589.01; Wabasso $95,924.68; Walnut Grove $51,478.45; Westbrook $85,651.84; and Winthrop $67.430.92.

For more information, visit www.revenue.state.mn.us/emergency-ambulance-service-aid

Anyone interested in working part-time for the Sleepy Eye Ambulance Service can contact Hittesdorf at ambulance@sleepyeye-mn.com. All training is free of charge with a service commitment.