An effort by county Safety Committee members to purchase an ambulance this year, even though the item was removed from consideration during budget discussions, ended Tuesday.The county’s Budget and Finance Committee met and denied a request from Safety Committee members to allow EMS to use up to $110,000 of its existing general fund money to purchase an ambulance.“This is a request from the Safety Committee to move $110,000 from the department’s fund balance to purchase an ambulance,” said Finance Department director Linda Hillis to Budget and Finance Committee members Terry Bell, Carl E. Bouldin, Ken Martin and Michael Martin. Commissioner Diane Starkey was absent.When Michael Martin questioned how much the transfer would leave in the fund balance, Hillis stated, “The estimated ending fund balance as of June 30, 2016 was $270,262. The county audit prefers we keep one month of expenditures in fund balance.