HAMMONDSVILLE — Saline Township voters in Tuesday’s election will be asked to determine the fate of a levy supporting emergency medical services there.

Township Trustee Ryan Holland said if approved, the five-year, 6-mill levy will replace a 2.5-mill levy set to expire next year.

Holland said the current levy isn’t sufficient to support the township’s emergency medical service, in part because it was calculated with revenue from the W.H. Sammis Power Plant in mind.

The plant was closed in 2023 and is undergoing demolition.

A lack of funds and staff have led the Saline Township Trustees to enter into a contract for the TEMS Joint Ambulance Service to serve the township for the remainder of this year and through December 2026.

The agreement calls for the independent, Toronto-based ambulance service to receive revenue from the 6-mill levy up to that time if it passes or from the 2.5-mill levy, which would remain in place through 2026 only if the replacement levy isn’t supported.

Holland said TEMS ambulance personnel aren’t strangers to the township, having handled at least half of its emergency medical calls in recent years through a mutual aid agreement.

He said two private ambulance services also have supplemented the work of the township’s emergency medical service.

Holland confirmed the agreement with TEMS calls for it to receive the township EMS’ equipment, including two ambulances that are nearing the end of their useful service.

He said under present circumstances, the township EMS can’t afford to operate beyond late January.

Holland said pending passage of the 6-mill levy, plans call for the township trustees to pursue a longer-term contract with TEMS.

Clark Crago, executive director of the TEMS Joint Ambulance District, said, “The ultimate goal is to put a second staff on there 24 hours a day at a Knoxville location. Without passage of that levy, that would be hard to do.”