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Williston board accepts $1.55 million in 2024 bad debt write-offs, flags ambulance billing shortfall
Summary
The Board of City Commissioners approved $1,550,727.20 in 2024 bad debt write-offs — largely from ambulance accounts — and asked staff for multi-year ambulance revenue reports and options to improve billing and collections.
The Board of City Commissioners on Dec. 10 approved $1,550,727.20 in 2024 bad debt write-offs, with $1,510,953.29 attributed to ambulance accounts, Finance Director Hercules Cummings told the board.
The write-offs were presented as part of the finance report. Cummings said utility revenues for 2024 totaled $11,132,280.33, and that write-offs are handled under strict guidelines; the net cost of collection efforts was reported as $11,548.87 in write-off expense for utilities. Chief Clark elaborated on ambulance billing, saying the department has seen higher self-pay rates and billing delays, and noted staffing gaps in billing for 2024.
Mayor Howard Klug said the city should examine alternatives for ambulance operations, saying, “we are one of the last cities with a city-run ambulance service, and we need to investigate best practices to lessen the number of write-offs.” Chief Clark attributed a 72% collection rate to the efforts of Chief Benth and said the department is evaluating billing and administrative changes through the first quarter of 2025.
Commissioner Brad Bekkedahl asked for five years of ambulance revenue reports; Chief Clark agreed to provide that data and said the city is looking for a new billing service and will provide a bullet-point list of improvement areas. Commissioner James Bervig said plans are in place to offset the shortfall and that comparative revenue data are needed before drawing final conclusions.
The board voted 5-0 to accept the bad debt write-offs after a motion by Bekkedahl and second by Bervig.
What happens next: staff will deliver the requested multi-year ambulance revenue reports and a list of potential billing improvements. The City will continue evaluating operational and billing changes into mid-2025.
