Monday, May 13, 2013
Montgomery County Council meets most Tuesdays in Rockville.
Montgomery County Council members will begin to discuss how to spend revenue collected from an ambulance fund that took effect this January at its next meeting, planned for Tuesday, May 14, at 9:30 a.m. in Rockville. The fund is the result of a law passed in 2012 that allows the county to collect fees from the insurance companies of patients transported by emergency medical services (EMS). It was defeated in a 2010 voter referendum, Patch previously reported, but reintroduced and passed by the County Council. County Executive Isiah Leggett submitted a proposal to allocate 15 percent of the revenue to the Montgomery County Volunteer Fire Rescue Association, the group that runs local volunteer fire and rescue stations. If approved, about $2.…
Saturday, September 1, 2012
What does the county's ambulance fee mean for you?
Earlier this month, Montgomery County and the Montgomery County Volunteer Fire-Rescue Association announced it had signed an agreement that effectively ended the volunteer firefighters’ fight against an ambulance fee passed by the Montgomery County Council. In the days following the announcement, county officials worried that their message was not being heard and that some media reports had, in the words of Montgomery Fire Chief Richard Bowers, given “the impression that, starting in January, everyone will have to pay for an ambulance ride in Montgomery County.” “Nothing is further from the truth,” Bowers said in an email to Patch. Bowers referred residents to a county website with information about the fee. The website, at www.…
How did the county wind up with an ambulance fee?
Earlier this month, Montgomery County and the Montgomery County Volunteer Fire-Rescue Association announced it had signed an agreement that effectively ended the volunteer firefighters’ fight against an ambulance fee passed by the Montgomery County Council. This is Part Two of a two-part “Q & A” about the fee. Answers are taken from a county website with questions and answers about the new law, from Patch reports on the fee and from other local media, as noted. Click here to read Part One. Part Two discusses how the agreement on the fee came to pass: Q: Why is the county doing this now? A: “Montgomery County is about to be hit by a ‘tidal wave’ from Annapolis,” the county website says. The Maryland General Assembly in May approved a 50-50 …
Monday, August 13, 2012
Volunteers and county reach agreement on funding; fee will take effect Jan. 1.
Montgomery County volunteer firefighters signed an agreement with the county on Monday that volunteers say will avoid a repeat of the 2010 ambulance fee referendum and allow the fee to take effect in January. The County Council approved the fee in May, 18 months after county voters rejected it by a 54-percent-to-46-percent margin in a 2010 ballot question. The county projects that the fee will generate $18 million a year that will go to additional fire and rescue service staffing, training, apparatus, facilities and equipment. “The bottom line is that the residents here in the county will be served much better because of the enhancements that will be made to the fire and rescue service with this EMS reimbursement,” said Montgomery County…
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
The measure was overturned by referendum in 2010 and brought back up by County Executive Isiah Leggett this session.
Despite voters striking down the Montgomery County ambulance fee in a referendum on the ballot in 2010, Montgomery County Council passed the fee again Tuesday with a 6-3 vote. Several councilmembers said there was a misinformation campaign surrounding the 2010 referendum vote. Councilmembers Councilman Phil Andrews (D, Dist-3), Roger Berliner (D-Dist. 1) and George Leventhal (D-At Large) were opposed. While Andrews implored councilmembers to respect the will of the voters, some of the county lawmakers were disturbed at how voters were educated about the ambulance fee. Many residents who voted against the fee thought county residents would have to pay the $300 to $800 fee per ambulance ride, Councilman Mark Elrich (D-At Large) said. “That’s…
Thursday, April 26, 2012
In 2010, the Montgomery County Council passed similar bill in a 5-4 vote, but county voters rejected the fees in a referendum.
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Thursday, April 26, 2012
Montgomery County is the only jurisdiction in the Washington region that does not charge ambulance fees, but that could change. Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett, who favors the fees as a way to generate revenue, submitted legislation to the County Council that would establish an ambulance fee. According to a memo the county executive sent to Council President Roger Berliner, Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service would charge commercial insurers, Medicare and Medicaid to transport patients. Based on 2010 projections, Leggett's memo states, EMS reimbursements would generate $14 to $17 million annually. In 2010, the County Council passed similar bill in a 5-4 vote, according to County Council records, but county voters rejected the…
Friday, October 29, 2010
County executive directed uniformed firefighters to give early voters literature supporting fee.
Volunteer firefighters alleged in court documents Friday that Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett misused county personnel and resources to support a proposal to charge patients for ambulance service. The Montgomery County Volunteer Fire and Rescue Association, a vocal opponent of ambulance fees, filed an emergency lawsuit in Circuit Court asking a judge to enjoin Leggett and Fire Chief Richard Bowers from misusing county personnel and resources for political activities relating ambulance fee proposal. MCVFRA Executive Director Eric Bernard claimed Friday that Leggett and Montgomery County Fire Chief Richard Bowers directed on-duty fire and rescue workers to take emergency vehicles to early voting sites to hand out campaign …
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
County Executive Isiah (Ike) Leggett threatened to cut 10 percent of the Montgomery County Fire Department if the ambulance fee doesn't pass.
County Executive Isiah (Ike) Leggett said Tuesday that 10 percent of firefighters in Montgomery County would lose their jobs if voters do not pass the ambulance reimbursement fee in November. The cuts would mostly effect Emergency Medical Service jobs, 107 of which would be cut. As there are only 20 vacant positions in the fire department, 87 firefighters would be laid off. Leggett's plans come as a reaction to the Maryland court ruling that said the referendum on the ambulance reimbursement fee be included on the November ballot. Leggett admitted in the referendum would not likely pass. "We are disappointed that he [Leggett] has taken a scare tactic instead of finding other cuts," said Eric Bernard, executive director of the Montgomery…
Costco Gas Man
3:08 pm on Thursday, May 16, 2013
You jest, but that's most likely where It will go. more ›