Torrance poised to adopt fees for new in

Torrance's move to take over the city's ambulance services from a private company will initially fall slightly short of covering the $2.4 million Fire Department budget cut, according to a staff report for Tuesday's City Council meeting.

The panel on Tuesday, Feb. 23, is expected to adopt fees to transport patients to local hospitals as it phases in taking over the service from current provider McCormick Ambulance.

The staff report said that transporting patients would result in net revenues of just under $2.3 million annually, through 2022, including 7% combined fee increases over the next two years. Those revenues are more than $100,000 shy of the target set for the Fire Department to reduce costs.

City officials, in the staff report, described the expected revenue as "very close" to the expected budget reduction.

The report also said that two new revenue sources — called a first responder fee and a Treat-No-Transport fee — that were expected to generate $400,000 in new revenue, will not be implemented immediately, although they will likely be revisited in the future.

"We’re pulling the fees right now," said Alec Miller, assistant chief for the Fire Department's emergency medical services division. "We don't want to charge more than our citizens are accustomed to and we don't want to charge more than what a private provider can charge."

McCormick does not assess the two fees and already "charges the maximum allowable" by the Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Agency.

Since the city will charge the same rates as McCormick at first, the proposed fees the council will take up Tuesday won't have an "adverse impact on Torrance residents," the report said.

"The intent is to begin transporting concurrently with McCormick," the report added, "and charge the same rates, such that Torrance constituents will not see any difference in billings."

Once Torrance's service is up and running to a greater degree — initially it will use just two ambulances until the city receives new ones in six to seven months — the department will seek approval of the new fees, Miller said.

Officials have said they believe the in-house ambulance service will eventually generate $2 million in net revenue annually for the city's operating budget.

The council on Tuesday is also expected to authorize the lease-purchase of eight ambulances at a cost of almost $1.7 million.

The virtual City Council meeting will begin at 7 p.m. and can be viewed on cable public access channels, YouTube, Facebook and Torrance's website.

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