City Council Planning Sessions

Monday, January 11, 2021 1. Call to Order The Wheaton City Council Planning Session was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor Suess. The following were: Physically Present: Mayor Suess Councilman Barbier Councilwoman Bray-Parker Councilwoman Fitch Councilwoman Robbins Councilman Rutledge Councilman Zaruba City Staff Physically Present: Michael Dzugan, City Manager John Duguay, Assistant City Manager Susan Bishel, Public Information Officer David DiClementi, Emergency Medical Service/CRR Manager William Schultz, Fire Chief City Staff Present by Video Conference: Robert Lehnhardt, Director of Finance Daniel Peck, Public Relations Coordinator 2. Approval of December 14, 2020 Minutes The Council approved the December 14, 2020 City Council Planning Session minutes. 3. Public Comment There were no public comments. 4. Paramedic Service Fees City Manager Dzugan stated the CY 2021 budget included a General Fund revenue increase of approximately $700,000 to offset an approximate 36% increase of expenditures observed in the fund due to the City’s new Emergency Medical Services (EMS) contract. He stated that Fire Chief Schultz and Emergency Medical Service/Community Risk Reduction Manager DiClementi would provide an overview of the City’s current EMS fees and present potential approaches to restructuring fees that better align with the City Council’s policy of recovering 90% of EMS operating costs. City Manager Dzugan stated that the fees were last adjusted in May 2016. Manager DiClementi provided an overview of the statistical analysis conducted by City staff that reviewed EMS call volume, historical billing data, insurance payment information, and comparable community billing information. JANUARY 11, 2021 CITY COUNCIL PLANNING SESSION MINUTES Manager DiClementi stated that approximately 75% of all Fire Department calls are EMS related. He stated that EMS calls have steadily increased from 2017 through 2019, and he predicts there will be a continual annual increase based on historical call demand data. Manager DiClementi stated the CY2021 budget for Emergency Medical Services is approximately $2.3 million. Based on an analysis from the City’s third-party billing services, he stated that that the City currently collects approximately $1.7 million, or 71%, of the EMS operating budget annually. Manager DiClementi reviewed potential fee structure scenarios of adjusted rates for residents and non- residents that would increase annual collections by 19% to meet the policy goal of annually recovering 90% of operating costs. In response to questions from Council, Manager DiClementi stated that people living in unincorporated Wheaton areas are categorized as mutual aid EMS calls, not resident EMS calls. In response to questions from Council, Fire Chief Schultz stated that the City’s Fire Department receives approximately 4,000 EMS calls annually, and an average cost per call would be difficult to calculate due to the amount of different variables with each service call. In response to questions from Council, Fire Chief Schultz stated that the City provides 800-1,000 mutual aid service calls annually with approximately 70% being EMS related service calls. He stated that, as part of an intergovernmental agreement, the City can only bill insurance providers of recipients of mutual aid for the maximum fee rate of the jurisdiction where service is provided. He stated that surrounding municipalities’ fees are higher than those of the City, and the City typically provides more mutual aid than it receives. In response to questions from Council, Fire Chief Schultz stated that the City of Wheaton and the Village of Carol Stream are the only municipalities in the immediate area that utilize 3 ambulances. City Manager Dzugan stated that City staff is seeking direction for what the City should set EMS fee rates for residents and then adjustments can be made to the non-resident rates to reach the City Council’s policy of recovering 90% of the operating costs to deliver EMS. In response to questions from Council, Manager DiClementi stated that Medicare and Medicaid will pay the fees that the City sets, but there are cap limits. Fire Chief Schultz stated that private insurers do not pay for non-transport fees. In response to questions from Council, Manager DiClementi stated that target recovery amount is the net amount of what the City collects from EMS services and not what the City bills. The Council requested that City staff provide 4 fee structure alternatives for review to recover 90% of the operating costs to deliver EMS. Alternatives include raising resident rates by 5% and non-resident rates by 62%; increasing resident rates by 10% and non-resident rates by 52%; raising resident rates by 20% and non-resident rates by 35%; and structuring the resident fees to the mean fee for comparable communities and applying the difference to the non-resident fees. 5. City Council/City Staff Comments There were no comments. JANUARY 11, 2021 CITY COUNCIL PLANNING SESSION MINUTES 6. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 8:06 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Daniel J. Peck