San Diego

The city should authorize a $65 increase in fees for calls handled by Hartson Medical Services to offset a 21% rise in employee salaries proposed under a recent labor settlement, Deputy City Manager Maureen Stapleton recommended Friday.

The increase would bring the average Hartson bill to $347, according to a report that Stapleton issued Friday. Paramedic bills range from $167 to $512 countywide, with an average fee of $353, Stapleton reported.

Hartson, which receives a $6.8-million city subsidy over the life of its four-year contract, has also asked for changes in its agreement with the city to help offset “ongoing operating losses,” but those changes should not be addressed until July, when the city will begin considering whether to extend the Hartson contract beyond July, 1991, Stapleton suggested.

In a tentative settlement reached in February, Hartson is offering its 160 paramedics and emergency medical technicians a 21% salary increase, Stapleton wrote. Employees would receive a 9% increase immediately, followed by a 12% increase phased in over six months. They also would earn another 3% general increase in April, 1991.

However, the wage increase is contingent on Hartson’s ability to earn the added revenue.

Hartson paramedics earn $6.50 to $9.55 an hour, a wage 24% less than that of other county paramedics, according to representatives of Service Employees International Union, Local 102. Emergency medical technicians start at $5 an hour.