Property owners in the Hilton Fire District voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to create a new ambulance district, approving the measure by a margin of 82-13. The vote clears the way for the Town of Parma to contract with an emergency medical services provider to station an ambulance in the Village of Hilton, addressing a gap in coverage that has lingered for years in this corner of northwest Greece.
The Town of Parma put forward the new district, according to 13WHAM-TV, which reported that the projected cost to property owners works out to $0.1357 per $1,000 of assessed value. That rate is expected to show up on 2027 town and county property tax bills, the station reported. Town of Greece Supervisor Jeff McCann said, per a release, that Hilton Fire District residents approved the new ambulance district.
A separate legal notice posted by the Town of Parma estimates the district's annual cost at $174,081. The station's report frames the vote as a fix for roughly 400 northwest Greece households served by the Hilton Fire Department, with the stationed ambulance intended to reduce response times for those residents.
A Long Road to Tuesday's Vote
This is not the first time Hilton-area residents have wrestled with how to pay for dedicated ambulance coverage. The Hilton Fire Department abolished its volunteer ambulance service back in 2018 and arranged for CHS to step in as the provider, according to Westside News Inc. By 2022, CHS Mobile Ambulance was renting space at the Hilton Fire District just to keep a unit nearby for Hilton and north Parma calls, per that same outlet's reporting.
That arrangement nearly collapsed. CHS had declared it would pull out of Hilton by Dec. 31, 2022, unless a tax district or subsidy was approved, Westside News reported at the time. A proposal for a dedicated 24/7 ambulance and related community services carried a price tag of $457,132 annually, but Hilton Village Trustees voted against creating that tax district, opting instead to rely on regional ambulance services from Monroe Ambulance.
Years Without a Dedicated Crew
The consequences of that 2022 decision stretched on. A 2026 report from The Hilton Record said Hilton Parma Fire District residents had gone without a full-time dedicated ambulance provider since 2022, with Monroe Ambulance serving the area on a contractual basis instead. The same report had floated Jan. 1, 2027, as a projected start date for a full-time ambulance at the Hilton Fire Department, though that date was described only as a projection.
Cost estimates for the plan also shifted over time. Before the district was finalized, Parma Supervisor David Ciufo had estimated the tax cost could run about 28 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, according to the Hilton Record. The rate ultimately projected and reported by 13WHAM-TV came in lower, at 13.57 cents per $1,000.
Open Questions Remain on Hilton's Role
Village of Hilton meeting minutes from August indicate that the village has the authority to formally authorize its inclusion in the Town of Parma Ambulance District by resolution, and that such a resolution would be subject to a permissive referendum. Those minutes do not establish the outcome of any referendum process. Which EMS provider will ultimately be selected, the terms of any contract, and whether the service has actually begun are details that remain unconfirmed as the district moves from a ballot measure to an operating entity.
