By John F. Hill
The Press Enterprise
MURRIETA, Calif. — A $350 emergency response fee for people who call 911 in Murrieta will be considered by the City Council on Tuesday, July 3.
The move is aimed at closing a gap in the fire department’s budget by charging for the paramedic service the city began offering in the 1990s.
Murrieta residents and business owners could avoid paying the $350 fee by signing up for an emergency “subscription program.” They would pay $48 per year and be covered for all emergency calls.
Meanwhile, the fire department is considering a new two-person team paramedic system that officials hope will cut down on overtime costs. Combined, the two moves could close a $700,000 gap in the upcoming fire department budget, according to a report by Senior Management Analyst Brian Ambrose.
“We wouldn’t be coming with this new subscription program if the situation wasn’t dire,” said Murrieta Fire Chief Matt Shobert.
The department has cut seven administrative employees in the past several years, he said.
More details about the proposed emergency response fee were released late this week, including a plan to offer 50 percent discounts to people on Medicare and Medicaid and others with low incomes.
In the first year, the plan would allow residents to sign up for the subscription retroactively if they make a 911 call before signing up. They would then pay half of the normal $350 fee.
The plan also calls for a “sunset clause” that would reduce and then eliminate the fee as Murrieta recovers from the recent housing market collapse.
Once the city’s property and sales tax revenue reaches 2008 levels, the fee would be cut in half. And if revenues climb to 15 percent above that, the fee would be eliminated.
Fire departments in Corona and Loma Linda already use similar emergency response fees.
In Murrieta, the fee could bring the fire department as much as $400,000 per year, according to the city report.
That would still leave a hole in the fire department’s $11.4 million budget.
A new system that could help close that gap would involve teams of two firefighter/paramedics rolling out to emergencies, instead of the current three-person teams.
At this point, the new system is only an idea. Shobert said details, including when and where the two-person teams could be used, would need to be worked out.
“It certainly is a service reduction that has the potential impact certain safety issues, however the financial situation needs a hard look,” Shobert said.
The City Council meeting begins at 6 p.m.
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