HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015 12-09 Fire Department proposes new service fees MAPLEWOOD REVIEW2/22/2016 Fire Department proposes new service fees I Lillie Suburban Newspapers - LillieNews.com
Fire Department proposes
new service fees
Submitted by admin1 on Wed, 12/09/2015 - 12:00am
By: Erin Hinrichs
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When fire stations were first established, they were intended to address two primary issues — to put out fires and investigate
the cause the of fire, says Fire Chief Steve Lukin.
Today, that list of responsibilities has grown to include everything from auto extrications and gas line hits to emergency
medical assistance and helping those who have fallen and simply can't get back up on their own.
With these added expectations comes the expense of additional training, Lukin says. Yet many of these extra services fail to
generate any revenue.
In an effort to start recuperating fees for such services, the fire department proposed a list of new fees at the Monday, Nov. 23,
council meeting. The list approved by the City Council includes a $500 vehicle accident fee, along with a cost -per -hour
breakdown of fire and EMS equipment used to address railroad fires, arson fires, fires as a result of negligence, pipeline
utility breaks, technical rescues, and hazardous material calls.
Two additional proposed fees, however, were pulled from the list for further review: a $200 EMS non -transport fee and a $50
EMS lift assist fee. The former would apply to a call where no medications are administered and no one ends up being
transported to another site, such as a hospital. The latter would apply to a call for assistance needed due to a fall.
Since the bulk of these calls pertain to seniors, many of whom live on a fixed income, Mayor Nora Slawik and even Lukin
himself expressed concern over not wanting to dissuade anyone from calling for help because of the extra fee.
"I know from past experience as a legislator that fee increases can cause seniors not to call 911 when they are having chest
pains because they are worried about the ambulance costs. Not making that call could be life threatening," Slawik said in a
phone interview.
She had made the motion to postpone voting on these two items for further review — a move Lukin seemed to anticipate
would happen.
"It's kind of a moral issue, as well as an issue I'm concerned about," he told the Review. "Will it stop people from calling?
That's not what I want.
"Those were the areas we brought to [the council], knowing there would be some good conversation and [direction] to do
some more due diligence."
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Who should pay?
Asked where he stands on the two fees up for further review, Lukin says the department was simply laying forth different
options for generating revenue.
"The lastthing thatwe wantto do is have someone not call us when they need us because of $50 or $200," he says.
That being said, there are also residents who make a habit of calling the fire department for non -emergencies, he says. In
these cases, some other form of intervention is often needed, such as care provided by family members or social services.
On average, the fire department records a little more than 1,100 EMS non -transport calls annually, along with about 500 lift
assist calls. If the fees were to be implemented, Lukin predicts the department would generate an additional $58,750 in
revenue each year.
While the majority of these calls involve seniors, it's not limited to house calls. This also includes individuals who are living at
assisted living facilities and nursing homes, where staff may not be equipped to assist those who have fallen and can't get up
on their own.
In discussing the lift assist and non -transport fees, council member Kathleen Juenemann spoke in support of both, offering a
modified policy.
"I know what happens and I feel for the families," she says, noting she has been a caregiver on more than one occasion. "But
I just don't think it should end up on us to do all of it. [Perhaps] we could come up with some middle road on numbers."
She suggested granting individuals a certain number of "free passes" before charging.
But even atthat, Slawik says she'd still have concerns over seniors being financially intimidated and not calling.
Lukin says there's no way to charge senior facilities directly. Rather, all lift assist and non -transport fees would need to be
assessed to the individual in need of assistance.
That being the case, he later clarified these fees would make most sense if and when it becomes possible to charge them
through an individual's medical insurance provider, or Medicare.
Having been on the receiving end of EMS services before, resident Anne Fosburgh says it's a tough issue to weigh in on.
"I think there should be some cost, because it's city money and everybody pays it in taxes," she says, adding she'd be fine
with paying $50, but felt more hesitant about the proposed $200 fee.
Regardless of what happens, she says she'd make the 911 call if she ever needed to. And she'd pay her ambulance bill. But
she suspects that many people may simply not pay up.
Different approaches
The issue of users neglecting to pay charges for lift assists and non -transport calls played prominently in Roseville Fire Chief
Tim O'Neill's assessment of the proposed fees in Maplewood. In his estimates, the fire department could end up collecting
less than half of these fees; and taking elderly residents to collections would likely not go over well with community members.
Plus, there are the added administrative costs associated with sending out these bills.
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"At the end of the day, is it enough to tarnish your ability to be there for the residents who need you? I'd weigh against it," he
says.
The Roseville Fire Department operates differently in that it responds to calls, but AlIina serves as its ambulance transport
agency. In Maplewood, EMS staff respond to medical calls and transport patients to the hospital, if need be.
As a point of comparison, the Roseville Fire Department responds to a couple hundred lift assist calls each year, O'Neill says,
at no charge to those individuals.
"Cities are trying to be creative in how they fund the different departments they have. We fund via tax levy. We haven't had to
go to a fee-based income," he says.
In Oakdale, the fire department has a non -transport fee system in place that's based on the level of service administered. But
Oakdale doesn't charge for lift assists.
Deputy Fire Chief Kevin Wold says he has mixed feelings about the two proposed fees in Maplewood.
"The fire service in general, whether you're on the East Side or West Side, is looking at alternative ways to be creative about
recouping costs," he says.
Concerning lift assist calls for residents at senior living facility in Oakdale, he says, there is a push to place more
responsibility on the facility, especially those that have staff on hand.
In Maplewood, where the department currently employs 18 full-time firefighters, including the chief and two assistant chiefs,
along with 35 part-time firefighters and EMTs, talks of creating a community paramedic program seem to be more popular
than the proposed lift assist and non -transport ambulance fees.
Under this program, a trained community paramedic would be assigned to primarily elderly patients being discharged from
the hospital, who opt in, to administer at-home follow-up care billed per patient contacttime at $60 per hour.
"It's proven to be a great program because it keeps them from going back into the hospital, where it's very expensive, and
recovery is much easier in your home environment than at the hospital," Lukin says.
Maplewood and a number of area cities like St. Paul, Oakdale and White Bear Lake had applied for grant funding, to help
cover the costs of training, but failed to secure the $1.6 million they had sought this year.
Lukin says they're still hoping new funding will come through early nextyear, so they can move forward.
"I'm hoping through [the] community paramedic program we can work with our residents on strategies to reduce lift assists
and non -transport calls," Slawik says.
Erin Hinrichs can be reached at 651-748-7814 and ehinrichs(c71i11ienews.com. Follow herattwitter.com/EHinrichsNews
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