Wheaton ambulance fees increasing May 1

Ambulance services will cost more in Wheaton starting May 1.

The city council has approved the first increase in emergency medical services and ambulance program fees in five years to better align revenues and expenditures.

Ambulance fees currently bring in about $1.2 million a year, which covers about 70 percent of the program's costs.

City officials estimate expenditures will be roughly $1.6 million for the 2016-17 fiscal year.

In January, city staff members asked the council to consider raising the fees so they could pay for the full cost of the service.

By doing so, they said, the city could stop using money from the general fund, freeing up about $400,000 for other needs.

Council members voiced concerns in February about raising costs too much and agreed to move forward with a new rate structure that would cover 90 percent of expenditures, or about $1.4 million.

Those rates, approved Monday, are on par with the average ambulance costs of surrounding communities.

Ambulance fees are charged at four different medical service levels: advanced life support, advanced life support II, basic life support and non-transport/refusal.

The most significant change will be for residents needing advanced life support. The new fee will be $835, which is a $308 increase from the current cost.

With the new fee structure in place, residents also will be charged $655 for basic life support, up from the current $444, and $1,022 for advanced life support II, up from $763.

No transport is increasing from $75 to $100 for residents, but remaining at $150 for nonresidents.

Nonresidents will pay $820 for basic life support, $1,044 for advanced life support and $1,255 for advanced life support II.

In addition, residents and nonresidents will be charged $12 for every mile they travel in the ambulance, which represents a $2 increase from the current $10 per mile rate.