Call 911 anywhere in Spring Hill today and a Williamson Health ambulance comes, on either side of the county line. This week Maury County decides whether to pay to keep it that way.
Tonight at 4:30 p.m. CT, Maury County's Budget Committee takes up a request to move $750,000 from county reserves to Williamson County. That would cover the Maury side of the city from January through June. The full Maury County Commission is scheduled to take the final vote Monday, Nov. 16, at 6:30 p.m. CT (county calendar). Williamson County's commission votes on its side of the deal tonight at 6 p.m. CT.
Map of Spring Hill's city limits, with the northern Williamson County side shaded navy and the larger southern Maury County side shaded rust.
Spring Hill straddles the Maury-Williamson county line. Williamson Health ambulances cover both sides today. Map: Spring Hillian, from the site's county-split boundary data. Base map © Mapbox © OpenStreetMap.
Why Maury County is being asked to pay
State law makes each county responsible for ambulance service within its borders, but Williamson County has covered all of Spring Hill since 2020. At a Nov. 2 Maury County committee meeting, Williamson Public Safety Director Connor Scott said Williamson served the Maury side "for free" because "chopping the city in half" complicates dispatch, radios and patient care.
This year, he said, Williamson Health asked for a much larger county subsidy, so Williamson asked Maury to pay its share. Williamson Health is covering the gap through Jan. 1.
Using Williamson Health's figures, Maury Regional Health CEO Dr. Martin Chaney said the Maury side produced about 2,400 calls last year. That's 60% of Williamson's Spring Hill calls, from about 40% of the city's residents, or roughly 26,000 people (slides).
The two options
Pay Williamson. Under the proposed agreement, Maury County would pay $750,000 for the first half of 2027 and $1.5 million for the year starting July 2027. After that, the fee rises 3% a year. Williamson keeps two advanced life support ambulances and a supervisor in Spring Hill around the clock. Spring Hill must also sign. As of its Nov. 2 meeting, its board hadn't taken up the new deal, though in September it extended the current one through Dec. 31.
Have Maury Regional do it. Maury Regional, which runs the county's ambulance service under contract, proposed two new 24-hour ambulances and a supervisor, one of them based at Spring Hill Fire Station 2 on Port Royal Road. Its estimate puts the county's cost at about $2.2 million in year one, $1.3 million in year two and $1.8 million in year three. Year one includes $960,000 for ambulances, a supervisor truck and radios.
The prices don't buy the same thing. Scott said Williamson's fee is "focused around the one unit," plus a share of backup and supervision. Maury Regional's plan adds two ambulances that would also serve growing areas outside the city.
The case for Williamson
Spring Hill Mayor Matt Fitterer urged residents to back Williamson in a personal newsletter this morning, which he notes isn't an official city communication. He argues switching could add about four minutes to response times.
The record supports part of that. Because Spring Hill's 911 calls go to Williamson's dispatch center, Scott said handing them to Maury would add "about a one to two minute delay." He put Williamson's average response inside Spring Hill at 8.5 minutes. Maury Regional's average last year was 10 minutes, 22 seconds, but that's countywide, rural areas included, so it isn't a direct comparison. Maury Regional hasn't projected times for its Spring Hill plan. Its maps show roughly 5- to 10-minute drives from the proposed stations, not counting traffic.
The newsletter also cites "a $2.2 million dollar upfront capital commitment" on top of the subsidy. In Maury Regional's figures, $2.2 million is the total first-year cost, and equipment is $960,000 of it. Its point that operating costs are comparable holds up better: after year one, Maury Regional's estimates land near Williamson's $1.5 million.
The case for Maury County
Maury officials aren't faulting Williamson's service. "We are absolutely mandated to cover Spring Hill by the state," Maury County Mayor Sheila Butt told commissioners at the Nov. 2 meeting. She also spoke up for rural residents, whose average waits run 17 to 20 minutes in places like Culleoka and Santa Fe: "We need to be fair to all the taxpayers in Maury County."
Some commissioners resent the bill. "I still feel like Spring Hill created this monster years ago, and now they're wanting us to pay to correct their mistake," said Commissioner Wayne Romesburg.
The newsletter notes that Maury County has spent nothing on Spring Hill ambulance service. The county hasn't paid Williamson, though Chaney said Maury Regional's Neapolis station already answers some 911 calls in the Spring Hill area along U.S. 31.
What happens Jan. 1 without a deal
The current agreement ends Dec. 31, and neither Williamson County nor Williamson Health has said publicly what its ambulances would do without a new one. The legal duty is Maury County's. Maury Regional says it could open one new station in January using overtime and a spare ambulance, but not two before July 2027.
What happens next and how to weigh in
- Tonight, 4:30 p.m. CT: Maury County Budget Committee, Barner-Primm Commission Room, 6 Public Square, Columbia. Public comment is three minutes per speaker; sign up to speak on a specific item.
- Tonight, 6 p.m. CT: Williamson County Commission, 1320 West Main St., Franklin.
- Monday, Nov. 16, 6:30 p.m. CT: Maury County Commission final vote, Columbia.
Meetings stream live. Residents on either side of the line can reach Maury's commissioners through the county's commissioners page.