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San Luis council moves to change collection fee amid $1.2 million in ambulance bills sent to collections
Summary
The council approved a notice of intent to amend collection fees for utility and ambulance accounts and heard that $46,239 in utility debt and $1.225 million in ambulance charges had been referred to an out-of-area collector with low recovery rates.
The San Luis City Council approved a notice of intent to amend collection fees for delinquent utility and ambulance accounts after staff presented collection performance figures and proposed moving to a local collections agency.
Edgar Esparza, billing and collections manager, told the council the city previously sent utility accounts and ambulance bills to Valley Collection Services. He said the city sent $46,239.43 in utility accounts and recovered $11,678.98 (roughly 25% recovery) and sent $1,224,995 in ambulance accounts and recovered $22,653 (about 2% recovery) under the current arrangement. Esparza said a local Yuma-area collection firm reports higher collection rates but charges a higher fee: 25% for utilities (5 percentage points higher than current), higher ambulance fees, 30% on accounts under $25 and 40% on out-of-state accounts.
Council members asked about the age and makeup of the accounts. Esparza said utility accounts in collections dated from 2015 to the present and ambulance accounts dated from October 2020 to the present. City staff explained that closed utility accounts often reflect prior occupants or household account setups; staff said the city prevents new service when an individual has an outstanding balance but that joint-account situations can leave others unaffected.
Representatives from the city’s emergency medical/ambulance team said the department cannot refuse transports and that unpaid transports contribute to the deficit. A fire department speaker said billing staff’s collection performance is “above average compared to other cities” but that unpaid balances remain significant.
The council moved to approve the notice of intent to amend collection fee policy as presented; the motion carried by voice vote. The notice of intent does not itself change contracts or immediately switch collection agencies; it initiates the formal process for amending the fee structure for accounts referred to collections.
