DE HB316

Requires each county (Kent, New Castle, and Sussex) to fund at least 15% of the total cost of basic life support (BLS) services provided by volunteer ambulance companies within their respective counties through annual appropriations.

Apportions county funding to each volunteer ambulance company based on the proportion of ambulance runs they complete relative to all volunteer ambulance companies in the county, with the State Fire Prevention Commission certifying ambulance run totals and total BLS costs by January 15 annually.

Authorizes counties to raise funding for volunteer ambulance support through general revenues, an additional property tax/assessment/fee, or a user fee on BLS service users (capped at 150% of Medicare reimbursable rates and subject to insurance benefit offsets).

Repeals outdated statutory provisions that allocated fixed annual appropriations ($250-$750) to specific named fire companies and ambulance organizations in Kent and Sussex Counties.

Replaces deleted section 309 provisions regarding ambulance company funding with new sections 309 and 309A establishing general emergency services access requirements and the county funding mandate for volunteer ambulance companies.