Weatherly's Ambulance company's health is deteriorating, and officials say they may need an infusion from taxpayers.

Ambulance company President Karl Hinterleiter attended Monday's borough council meeting to ask council to consider helping keep the ambulance company afloat."As you may know, we're struggling to survive. We're scratching a lot of calls anymore, more than we really would like," Hinterleiter said. "We're doing our best."Weatherly Ambulance serves the borough as well as Packer, Lehigh and Lausanne townships.It has 13 paid Emergency Medical Technicians and Emergency Medical Responders.Hinterleiter said because of the company's current financial situation, they are among the lowest paid in the area.Despite that, the ambulance is running a $70,000 budget deficit."Right now we're struggling really bad. We want to ask the borough to consider putting on an EMS tax," Hinterleiter said.The company's $25 memberships are no longer paying the bills, Hinterleiter said.In exchange for $25, members do not have to pay anything for their ambulance ride beyond what their insurance charges.Nonmembers are billed by the ambulance company for any cost not covered by insurance.If the tax went into effect, that practice would end."What we collect, we would accept," Hinterleiter said.The idea for the tax came from nearby Freeland Borough, which recently enacted a 0.5-mill ambulance tax.Hinterleiter said he plans to visit the three townships to make a similar proposal.Mayor Tom Connors pointed out that council just passed its 2017 budget in December, and wouldn't discuss a tax until the fall."We certainly don't want to be without an ambulance in Weatherly," Councilwoman Theresa D'Andrea said.