The Village of Ashwaubenon Finance and Personnel Committee voted May 30 to approve a recommendation to raise the village’s emergency medical services (EMS) fees and charges, beginning in mid‑2025 and with further adjustments in 2026.

Committee members and public safety staff said the village’s EMS charges had not been updated since 2021 and corporate billing comparisons showed Ashwaubenon falling below neighboring communities. "We haven't had one since 2021," said the Public Safety Chief, explaining the department asked its third‑party billing provider to compare local rates and suggest changes.

Why it matters: Committee members and staff said the updates are intended to narrow the gap with surrounding communities and to help the village recover more of the costs of ambulance responses. Officials also noted that federal program reimbursements reduce the amount the village ultimately collects for many calls.

Most of the discussion focused on how rates differ by call type and residency. Public safety staff described separate basic life support (BLS) and advanced life support (ALS) charge categories and two price bands — one for village residents and one for nonresidents — to reflect a long‑standing village policy of subsidizing resident ambulance charges. The committee heard that calls requiring more personnel, equipment or drugs (for example, an ALS 2 response) justify higher charges than routine BLS responses.

Staff said the village will phase the new schedule: they prepared revised rates for the remainder of 2025, starting in June, and presented a recommended further adjustment for 2026. The committee approved the phased approach after discussion about avoiding a large single‑year increase and moving to an annual review of EMS fees.

Officials highlighted two practical limits on revenue. First, billing is routed through a third‑party vendor whose forms and code‑selection determine which service codes are billed; that process standardizes charges but also ties revenue to how staff document calls. Second, staff emphasized that Medicare and Medicaid payments substantially lower collections: the chief said roughly 53% of last year’s calls had Medicare as the payer, and that the village billed just over $1.5 million but received about $600,000 in payments. "These rates, does it cover our cost? Certainly not all the time," the chief said.

Committee members raised specific policy and equity questions. Some members and staff warned that increasing charges for lift assists and no‑transport calls could change a long‑standing village philosophy of subsidizing resident care. The proposed change would raise the village’s no‑transport or "cancelled" call fee by $50 from the current $200, a point several members said could cause concern among older residents who call for help. The chief said lifting the fee aims both to preserve emergency resources and to prompt evaluation of additional in‑home services where repeated assists occur.

Members also discussed residents’ unease about receiving bills from a third‑party company and asked staff to improve bill branding and communications so recipients recognize the charge as a village service.

Action taken: The committee moved and seconded a motion to approve the recommendation to amend EMS fees and charges; the motion carried on a voice vote.

Next steps: Staff said they will implement the revised rates for the remainder of 2025 as presented, begin an annual review of EMS fees to track parity with neighboring communities, and return to the board as needed with updates or communications plans for residents.