Advisory board debates ambulance fee

‘‘It’s fundamentally wrong to charge for what volunteers do for free,” he told the board.

Bentivoglio’s remarks followed a presentation by Fire Chief Thomas W. Carr of the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service in support of the fees, which would range from $300 to $800 with an additional $7.50 per mile charge for an ambulance trip.

Leggett proposed the fee in March for the fiscal 2009 budget, but it was not included in the budget’s final version. The County Council Public Safety Committee has been reviewing the proposal and will continue to do so after the council’s September break. The County Council will ultimately vote on the measure.

Carr said the fees were necessary to purchase badly needed new equipment and facilities, from ambulances to fire stations.

Money from fee collections could only supplement and not supplant funds already going to emergency services from the county, according to Carr.

‘‘This is a matter of necessity,” Carr told board members.

He also said there was no conclusive evidence that implementing fees, which would be paid by insurance companies, would deter people from calling for emergency services. Carr said county residents without health insurance would not be charged.

‘‘There will be no talking about it when we pick you up,” Carr said.

But Bentivoglio said many residents without insurance would have to submit extensive financial paperwork such as tax filings in order to request a fee waiver.

Overhead costs and other complications involved in collecting the fees made the proposal a ‘‘horribly inefficient way of getting money” for emergency services, he said.

‘‘This money will be diverted to the general fund,” he said.

He also expressed concern that the Rescue Squad could be adversely affected by the fees if they were not able to maintain fundraising efforts. The squad raised 84 percent of its fiscal year 2006 budget through contributions from individuals.

‘‘We will beg our community to keep us on the streets,” he said.

The Rescue Squad, which primarily consists of 150 professionally trained volunteers, serves 94,000 people in the county and Northwest Washington, D.C., according to its Web site. It answered 10,481 calls in 2007, responding to heart attacks, vehicle collisions and other such incidents.

After listening to arguments, the board voted to reaffirm its opposition to transport fees, expressed in a previous letter drafted by the board.

The citizens advisory board is a 15-member group of residents and business leaders who advise the county executive about issues that pertain to Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Friendship Heights, Garrett Park, North Bethesda and Potomac.