The Harford County Council passed a $608 million operating budget Tuesday night that included a controversial action to remove the $2.2 million in public funding provided to the non-profit Harford County Volunteer Fire and EMS Foundation.  As reported in the Aegis,  the tax money that funds the organization has been shifted to direct control by the county.

The foundation was started in the mid-2000s to address a chronic shortage of volunteer EMTs in the county of 245,000 residents, whose fire and ambulance services are operated by independent, private volunteer companies that receive annual subsidies from the county which cover only a portion of their operations.

Council President Billy Boniface said the intention of redirecting the funding is to create more accountability for how EMS and fire services are spending county money.