Okaloosa County Commissioners will vote Tuesday on a plan that calls for a substantial increase in ambulance transport fees.
Under the proposal, the cost of basic and advanced life support ambulance transports would increase to $800 for residents and non-residents. The amount charged for mileage also would be raised from $12 per mile to $15 per mile.
The basic and advanced transport fees currently range from $427 to $1,000, with non-residents paying more than locals.
Public Safety Director Dino Villani will present the proposal to commissioners at today’s meeting in Fort Walton Beach. He said his staff had conducted a routine analysis of the county’s emergency management services fees and found they lag behind other areas in Florida.
See the ambulance fee schedule. >>
“We’re charging below average,” he said. “It’s pretty straightforward.”
As a result, the county’s emergency management services fund, which is set up as an enterprise fund, is falling short and having to be subsidized with taxpayer money.
The proposed fee schedule would generate an additional $900,000 a year for the EMS fund.
County Commission chairman Don Amunds said he supports the fee increase.
“I’m OK with it when you look at the numbers as how many tourists and people from out of the county we service,” he said. “I never really want to go up on fees, but it’s a user fee.”
Under the proposal, several other ambulance service fees would increase by varying amounts. For example, the cost of ambulance stand-by service would increase from $100 to $200 and the cost of ambulance treatment without transport would increase from $125 to $250.
The cost of specialty care ambulance transports would actually decrease, dropping from $830 for residents and $1,129 for non-residents to $800 for both locals and visitors.
Villani said the additional revenue generated by the higher fees would allow the county to use fewer taxpayer dollars to subsidize the EMS fund in future years.
“This is extremely important to maintain the level of care that the public expects,” he said. “The average person doesn’t think of it in those terms until they get hurt and then their expectation is that someone responds quickly ... and with a well-trained and well-staffed crew.”
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Kari C. Barlow at 850-315-4438 or kbarlow@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @KariBnwfdn.
