TOWN OF PRIMROSE, Wis. — The Town of Primrose voted Monday night to leave New Glarus Area EMS at the end of the year and contract with Sugar River EMS beginning Jan. 1, 2027, ending months of discussion over cost, staffing, response times and the long-term viability of both options.

The decision leaves the Town of Mount Pleasant as the last municipality still served by New Glarus Area EMS. Mount Pleasant officials are expected to decide the future of their own contract at the Town Board’s Oct. 12 meeting — a vote that could determine whether New Glarus Area EMS enters 2027 with any municipal 911 coverage contracts at all.

Primrose officials had been studying the issue for roughly nine months and postponed a decision in September while seeking clearer comparisons between the two services. New Glarus Area EMS has cost the town about $23 per resident, or roughly $10,000 annually, while Sugar River EMS has been estimated at about $70 per resident, or approximately $30,000 a year.

Monday’s discussion showed that cost was only part of the equation. Board members and residents debated how response times are measured, whether the two providers were being compared on the same basis, the role of paramedics arriving before an ambulance and whether New Glarus Area EMS could remain financially and operationally sustainable with a much smaller service area.