By Marc Benjamin
Fresno Bee (California)
Copyright 2006 McClatchy Newspapers, Inc.
A fee for medical-aid calls into Tarpey Village and other unincorporated areas within a mile of Clovis was approved Monday night by the Clovis City Council.
In a 5-0 vote, council members said they will institute the $950 per call charge to the Fresno County Fire Protection District beginning July 1.
The fee was previously approved by the Fresno County Fire Protection District board, which will meet June 21 to decide on guidelines for calling Clovis firefighters into those areas.
Clovis Fire Chief Mark Aston said the city gets to 90 percent of Tarpey Village calls within five minutes. Fresno County Fire Protection District, which has to respond from Nees and Sunnyside avenues, more than three miles away, takes between five and nine minutes to reach the Tarpey area.
Tarpey Village, population 3,957, would be part of south-central Clovis were it not a county island.
American Ambulance will continue to respond as a medical-aid provider. It has responded to Tarpey in five minutes and 44 seconds on average so far this year.
Clovis and the county district have operated under a mutual-aid agreement since 1966, and no money has changed hands for medical-aid services.
Clovis City Council Member Bob Whalen said city taxpayers should not have to subsidize residents outside of Clovis.
Mayor Nathan Magsig said the $950 fee was based on the amount of tax revenue from the Tarpey area, which is about $200,000 divided by the more than 200 calls made into the Tarpey area. In 2005, city documents showed that Clovis went into Tarpey and areas within a mile of the city 210 times, and the Fresno County Fire Protection District went into Clovis 13 times.
Based on that number of responses with a $950 fee, there would have been a difference of more than $190,000, Aston said.
Tarpey Neighborhood Association President Bob Levinson said Monday night that residents in the area were not notified of the fee and the possible change in the agency giving medical-aid services.
Levinson told council members that they should consider the amount of money Tarpey residents pump into the Clovis economy that pays for public services.
Tarpey’s tax revenues provide $220,000 of the county fire district’s $9.1 million budget, said Doug Hicks, county district division chief.
County fire officials are arranging a meeting next week at Tarpey Elementary School to address the fee issue before the June 21 board meeting.