Committee recommends striking annual-registration requirement and widening residency language in senior ambulance subscription waiver

The finance committee reviewed a staff proposed amendment (Resolution 25-05R) to waive ambulance-subscription fees for seniors 65 and older and recommended two substantive edits: remove the word 'annually' from the registration requirement and replace 'permanent resident' with 'local resident.'

Fire Chief Emily Rauscher told the committee the department’s outreach to seniors suggested an eligible local cohort of "approximately 100," and that the $10 subscription fee per person would amount to roughly $1,000 per year in waived subscription receipts if all eligible seniors enrolled. Chief Rauscher said the program’s intent is to prevent out-of-pocket ambulance charges for insured seniors and to allow the fire department flexibility to enroll seniors in a less burdensome way than annual re-registration.

Committee members discussed proof-of-residency options (voter registration, driver’s licenses, utility bills) and whether annual registration was needed administratively; multiple members favored striking 'annually' to reduce administrative burden and to allow staff to maintain an updated enrollment list. The committee voted to strike 'annually' from section 4, to change 'permanent resident' to 'local resident' for consistency, and then moved the committee-adjusted amendment on to the assembly for approval.