[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Council of
the Town of Stratford 5-29-2003 by Ord. No. 03-04. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Volunteer fire companies — See Ch. 38.
A.
The Town is committed to meeting its responsibility
for providing the best in emergency medical services to its citizens
and visitors 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The Town intends to
provide this service at the lowest possible cost to our taxpayers.
That goal may only be realized by the implementation of a billing
policy and procedure that will result in charging a fee for emergency
medical services provided through Stratford Emergency Medical Service
(EMS) or any other provider used under a mutual aid agreement. The
purpose underlying this chapter is to relieve the annual budget of
the cost associated with the delivery of emergency medical services
and to provide emergency medical services as required while continuing
to preserve, support, and enhance the volunteer EMS system.
B.
It is the intent of the Town Council that the costs
(expenses, including depreciation) of providing EMS services to the
Town of Stratford users shall be recovered primarily through user
charges.
[Amended 3-12-2007 by Ord. No. 07-03]
The Town will charge a fee, as set by the State
of Connecticut Office of E.M.S., for providing emergency medical transportation
of patients to area hospitals in accordance with all applicable state
and federal laws and regulations. The Mayor is authorized to secure
all appropriate approvals from the State of Connecticut Office of
E.M.S. The Mayor is also authorized to implement the billing policies
described herein as efficiently as possible. The Mayor shall be required
to issue a request for proposals to solicit bids from appropriate
billing service providers. Those proposals must be presented to the
Town Council for selection of a firm and separate authorization to
enter into a contract.
A.
The Town is authorized to render a bill to the patient's
private insurance provider, Medicare, Medicaid, any supplemental policies
held by the patient, and any other private or government assistance
program that the patient may be eligible for.
B.
Payments received from the above sources to the extent
of their insurance coverage, on behalf of Town residents or employees
of taxpaying businesses who need emergency ambulance transportation
while working on the business premises (collectively referred to as
"residents"), shall be considered payment-in-full and the Town will
treat appropriations made to EMS from local tax revenue as payment
of any otherwise applicable copayments and deductible due from the
residents. Residents or taxpayers shall not be held liable for copays
or any charges not covered by the above sources.
C.
An industry-accepted collection procedure shall be
utilized to collect all amounts due from patients who fail to meet
the resident criteria of the Town.
D.
Decisions regarding residency or taxpayer status shall
be made by the Finance and Claims Committee upon receipt of a claim
for payment of invoices received or reimbursement of charges paid.
[Amended 3-12-2007 by Ord. No. 07-03]
An E.M.S. Enterprise Fund is hereby created
to receive all revenue derived under this chapter. The Mayor shall
issue a monthly report to the Town Council and to the EMS Committee
established herein detailing the amount of funds on deposit, rate
of return on investments, monthly billing, year-to-date billing, monthly
revenue, year-to-date revenue, and all expenditures from the Fund.
Said Fund shall be held, managed and administered under the supervision
of the Finance Director.
A.
Establishment. A nine-member committee is hereby established
and authorized to recommend, to the Town Council for approval and
adoption specific expenditures from the EMS Enterprise Fund. Member's
terms shall be concurrent with the Town Council and shall conduct
all meetings in accordance with state law, and Robert's Rules of Order.
B.
Responsibilities.
(1)
To develop and activate a long-range capital improvement/capital
equipment plan that will satisfy the needs of providing emergency
medical services for the Town.
(2)
To develop, in conjunction with the Town administration,
an EMS department operating budget for recommendation to the Town
Council.
(3)
To annually review the emergency medical transport
fee structure in conjunction with the State of Connecticut statutes
pertaining to ambulance fees, for recommending changes to the fee
structure to the Town Council.
(4)
To review requests for funding that were not included
in the adopted budget and refer requests to the Town Council with
a recommended action.
C.
Membership.
(1)
Two Council members appointed by the Town Council
which cannot be from the same political party, one of whom shall be
designated as the Committee Chairman.
(2)
Five active volunteer members of Stratford EMS to
be appointed by the Town Council upon recommendation by the majority
vote of all active volunteer members of Stratford EMS, such a vote
to be conducted by the Board of Directors of the Stratford Volunteer
EMS Association Incorporated.
[Amended 11-10-2008 by Ord. No. 08-10]
(3)
Two members of the Stratford Fire Department, to be
appointed by the Town Council upon recommendation of the President
of the IAFF Local 998.
(4)
The Mayor, or his/her designee, shall be a nonvoting
member.
[Amended 3-12-2007 by Ord. No. 07-03]
A.
The EMS Enterprise Fund Committee is hereby authorized
to expend monies from the Fund to support the operation of EMS and
the delivery of emergency medical services to those individuals requiring
such services. Allowable expenditures will include any costs that
this Committee deems beneficial to patient care including, but not
limited to, EMS payroll, daily operating costs, capital equipment,
EMS headquarters acquisition and/or maintenance, EMS volunteer training,
uniforms, EMS volunteer benefits, volunteer recruitment and retention,
administrative costs related to the Fund.
B.
EMS Enterprise Fund monies shall not be used to fund
any wages or benefits of paid Town employees in any departments other
than EMS.
A.
The E.M.S. Enterprise Fund Committee shall present
a budget of all proposed expenditures and estimated revenues to the
Mayor in accordance with the normal budget calendar provided by the
Mayor's office. The Mayor will include the EMS Enterprise Fund budget
in his proposed budget for Town Council approval and adoption.
[Amended 11-10-2008 by Ord. No. 08-10]
B.
The Committee shall allocate funds according to the
following priorities:
The enactment of this chapter hereby repeals Article IV, §§ 7-12 and 7-13 of the Stratford Town Code, and the current EMS donations account shall be maintained separately with the existing petition process for funding requests continued. The EMS Enterprise Fund Committee established herein shall take over the responsibilities of reviewing those requests and making a recommendation to the Town Council for approval.
