Howe's fire department and ambulance crews will keep covering a stretch of unincorporated Grayson County for another year, with the county paying the city $15,833 a month, under a contract headed to county commissioners on Tuesday.
The agreement is one of six emergency service contracts on the consent agenda for the Grayson County Commissioners Court's 10 a.m. meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 27, in Sherman. The county's Emergency Management office submitted the request on Oct. 21, and the copy in the meeting packet is labeled as Howe's signed fire and ambulance contract for fiscal 2027.
Consent items are approved together in one vote unless a commissioner or resident asks to pull one out.
What Howe agrees to do
The contract runs from Oct. 1, 2026, through Sept. 30, 2027, and can be extended a year at a time if both sides agree in writing. Twelve monthly payments add up to $189,996. Each one is due by the 10th, with the first due Oct. 10.
In return, Howe extends the emergency ambulance and fire service it gives city residents to county residents in an unincorporated area mapped in two exhibits, one for fire and one for EMS. Other terms in the packet:
- Each ambulance must be staffed and equipped for a mobile intensive care unit level of service.
- Howe sets its own rates for 911 and non-emergency transports, and the county plays no part in billing or collections.
- The city sends the county monthly operating reports, with the first due by Nov. 15, and joins after-action reviews when county emergency management asks.
- Howe's officers decide how to prioritize dispatches and equipment.
- The county can hold back payments if the city falls short until the problem is fixed, and either side can end the deal with 60 days' written notice.
