Rolling Meadows hikes ambulance fees to pay for six new firefighters

Faced with increased emergency calls but the same staffing levels since 1990, the Rolling Meadows Fire Department plans to hire six firefighters whose salaries and benefits would be funded by increasing ambulance billing fees.

The six new firefighter/paramedic positions would bring the department’s staffing to 48 — 16 people on each of three, 24-hour shifts — and put into service a dormant squad vehicle to supplement existing fire trucks. The smaller squad truck has fire and emergency medical equipment on it, but not water or hoses.

In making the staffing request to the city council, Fire Chief Pete Sutter pointed to statistics showing 4,200 calls for service logged in 2025 — a marked increase from 2,715 in 1990.

Hiring another two firefighters per shift was the recommendation of a 2012 Illinois Fire Chiefs Association Consulting Services report, which was the impetus for a then-controversial plan to relocate the city’s two fire stations to improve response times and reduce fire risk throughout town.

The average, annual call volume at that time was 3,400.

“That was over 10 years ago, and we were still just addressing the stations,” Sutter said. “We never addressed the personnel.”

Sutter attributed the spike in calls to growing needs of mental health emergencies, more nursing homes and doctors’ offices that have opened in the city, and new multifamily housing developments that have brought more traffic and activity.

At the same time, Sutter said his crews are often crunched for time to fulfill training requirements, from the Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, among other agencies.

And when there’s overlapping incidents, Rolling Meadows has to call for help from neighboring towns via mutual aid arrangements, Sutter said.

Personnel costs for the six new hires — at starting salaries of $83,911, plus benefits, equipment, uniforms and pension contributions — come out to $776,529.

Spread over a decade, the total is $11.4 million.

Increased ambulance billing over that time would generate close to $13 million, officials said.

The rate the city bills insurance companies for transports — now at $1,500, plus $10 per mile — will increase to $3,653, plus $20 per mile, aldermen agreed last week.

Unchanged since 2018, Rolling Meadows’ base transport rate was one of the lowest in the area. The fee ranges from $2,637 in Arlington Heights to $4,684 in Buffalo Grove.

Sutter emphasized the ambulance fees are charged to patients’ insurance, and under federal and state rules, the city won’t bill for amounts not covered by insurance. The fire chief, city manager and finance director have the authority to grant hardship waivers for uninsured patients.

The fire department will also apply for a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant of $1.4 million over three years to offset initial hiring costs while the ambulance billing revenue increase ramps up.