EMERGENCY RESPONSE FEES The City Council is...

EMERGENCY RESPONSE FEES

The City Council is holding a hearing to consider a proposal by

the Fire Department to raise the cost of emergency medical services.

It is expected that fire officials will ask for an increase in the

FireMed program -- an insurance system run by the city that covers

residents in the event of an emergency and allows insured patients to

pay no out-of-pockets costs for response.

The Fire Department is also asking to raise the costs it charges

to respond to emergencies.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Exact figures are not yet available and the council could decide

the increases are too steep, or not steep enough.

Fire officials argue the rate increases are necessarily to pay to

recover their own growing medical costs. The types of fees under

consideration for revision include ambulance transportation, medicine

and paramedic supplies.

LABOR DEALS

The council will be asked to approve two more labor contracts with

management in the fire and police departments. While the terms aren’t

yet publicly available, the new contracts will cover the two groups

until July 30, 2006.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Like all other labor deals, the council spends months in closed

session negotiating the contracts. It only allows the agreements to

go to a formal vote after it’s obvious they enjoy majority support,

making it almost guaranteed that the contracts will be approved.