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Selma council applies CPI escalator to ambulance user fees to align charges with costs
Summary
Council adopted an annual consumer-price-index escalation to ambulance user fees, implemented to maintain cost recovery for EMS operations; staff said the change keeps user fees aligned with expenses and previous comprehensive fee study guidance.
The Selma City Council approved an annual escalation tied to the federal consumer price index (CPI) to the city'0s ambulance user-fee schedule.
City staff said a comprehensive fee study adopted last year established an escalator mechanism so that annual fee adjustments keep pace with changes in operating costs. The staff recommendation and the resolution on Jan. 21 enact the CPI-based adjustment; city staff said the 12-month CPI increase cited in discussion was 2.4 percent.
Fire Chief Webster and the city manager said the escalator aims to reduce the long-running gap between the costs to provide ambulance services and what government payers reimburse. Chief Webster noted that Medi-Cal and Medicare rates are typically below city user fees, and federal/state subsidy programs (voluntary rate range and public provider ground-EMT add-ons) help with cost recovery.
Council vote: approved. The council also discussed protections for low-income patients and the indexing mechanism; staff said the escalator will track CPI and that any future negative CPI should be considered in cost analyses.
Next steps: Staff will implement the adjusted rates and incorporate the escalator in future fee schedules and bring periodic updates on collections and payer-mix data to council.
