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2280ORDINANCE NO. 2280 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 2.30 OF THE MOSES LAKE MUNICIPAL CODE ENTITLED "EMERGENCY MEDICAL AND AMBULANCE SERVICE" THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MOSES LAKE, WASHINGTON DO ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. Chapter 2.30 of the Moses Lake Municipal Code entitled "Emergency Medical and Ambulance Service" is amended as follows: 2.30.005 Definitions: A."Ambulance" means a ground vehicle designed and used to transport the ill and injured and to provide personnel, facilities, and equipment to treat patients before and during transportation. B."Availability Costs" means those costs attributable to the basic infrastructure needed to respond to a single call for service within the utility's response criteria, including costs for dispatch, labor, training of personnel, equipment, patient care supplies, and maintenance of equipment. C."Demand Costs" means those costs attributable to the burden placed on the ambulance service by individual calls for ambulance service, including costs related to frequency of calls, distances from hospitals, and other factors identified in a cost-of-service study conducted to assess burdens imposed on the Utility. D."Occupant" means a person who is employed by a Moses Lake business at a Moses Lake • business location or is a tenant of a Moses Lake property or business. E."Patient" means an individual who is sick, injured, wounded, or otherwise incapacitated or helpless. F."Person" means any individual, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company, group of individuals acting together for a common purpose, or organization of any kind, including a government agency. G."Place of Business" means a business located and operating within the city and paying a service fee under the chapter. H."Resident" means a person who utilizes a dwelling unit inside the city as a fixed abode, and is not a guest, visitor, or other temporary inhabitant. A student who is regularly enrolled in an educational institution outside the city but who would normally and regularly be a city resident but for attendance at such educational institution, shall be deemed to reside within the city. I."Utility" means the City of Moses Lake, Washington Ambulance Service Utility, including without limitation all equipment, employees, agents, supplies, overhead and other associated costs incurred to deliver all regulatory and ambulance services. 2.30.010 Establishment of Emergency Medical and Ambulance Service and Utility: There is established an emergency medical and ambulance service by the City of Moses Lake to be operated according to the license issued by the State of Washington. Consistent with the authority granted by state law, including RCW 35.21.766 and 35.27.370(15), as now enacted or hereafter amended, an Ambulance Public Utility is established by the city. •2.30.020 Service to be provided by the Fire Department: So long as the city provides emergency medical and ground ambulance service within the corporate limits of the city now, or as the city's limits are • 4 ORDINANCE NO. 2280 PAGE 2 December 12, 2006 expanded, the Moses Lake Fire Department will be the sole provider of emergency medical and ground ambulance services originating within the city limits except as provided for in this chapter. It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation to operate or cause to be operated within the city limits an ambulance or ambulance service except as provided for in this chapter. An ambulance or ambulance service operating within the corporate limits of the city, other than the ambulance provided by the city, will operate only through mutual aid, inter-local agreement, or contract with the city, executed between the parties. 2.30.100 Utility Authorization: The Ambulance Service Utility shall have the authority, through the City Manager or designee, to collect and spend the revenue authorized in this chapter in the amounts sufficient to regulate, operate and maintain the Ambulance Service Utility. 2.30.110 Utility Rate Setting: A monthly utility fee for the operation of the Ambulance Service Utility shall be established from time to time by resolution of the Council. This rate setting will be in accordance with RCW 35.21.766. The amount of the fee shall be based upon the costs of the Ambulance Service Utility as established by the cost-of-service study referenced in RCW 35.21.766(3). The costs remaining after applying transport fees and the general fund contribution, will be divided among the Ambulance Service Utility user classifications. These fees will be based upon the demand costs and availability costs. A.The rate attributed to availability costs shall be uniformly applied across all user classifications. B.The rate attributed to demand costs shall be applied to each utility user classification based on the classification's burden on the utility. C.Fees shall not exceed the revenue requirements to cover the costs of the Ambulance Service Utility, as authorized by the Council by adoption of an annual budget and subsequent amendments. 2.30.120 User Classifications: The monthly service fee shall be assessed on each of the following user classifications: A.Occupied residences B.Hospitals C.Skilled Nursing Facilities D.Assisted Living Facilities E.Commercial Occupancies F.Public Facilities 2.30.130 Collection of Fees: The utility fee shall be collected on a monthly basis from each user. The occupant of each unit within the user classifications shall be responsible for payment of the service fee to the extent that occupant is billed separately for the utility. The owner of the unit within each user category will be responsible for payment of the utility fee to the extent that the individual occupants are not separately billed for the utility. Multi-family residential units or other multi-unit properties that are billed for other utilities through a single utility connection shall be charged a utility fee for each active or occupied unit. No utility fee will be charged to any vacant building or unoccupied unit or parcel. 2.30.140 Utility Fee Exemptions: Any change in occupancy or use of a parcel, or any other change in circumstance that eliminates application of an exemption from the utility fee, shall immediately • • • •• • • • 2.30.190 General Fund Contributio ORDii4ANCE NO. 2280 PAGE 3 December 12, 2006 ...•n••• • • • 3RDii4ANCE NO. 2280 PAGE 3 December 12, 2006 make the affected property subject to the applicable utility fee. The utility fee shall become due and payable as of the date of the change in use or circumstance and it will continue until the parcel again meets the exemption requirements. A.Monthly rates shall not be prorated. B.Any customer seeking an exemption from payment of the utility fee must file a written petition with the Finance Director. C.The combined rates charged shall reflect an exemption for persons who are Medicaid eligible and who reside in a nursing facility, boarding home, adult family home, or receive in-home services. D.The combined rates charged may reflect an exemption or reduction for designated classes consistent with Article VIII, Section 7 of the State Constitution, and the amounts of any such exemption or reduction shall be a general expense to the Ambulance Service Utility. These expenses will be designated as an availability cost, to be spread uniformly across the user classifications. 2.30.150 Periodic Utility Fee Review: The City Manager or designee will periodically review the Ambulance Service Utility's revenues, expenses, indebtedness and fees. Based upon this review, the City Manager or designee will recommend appropriate utility fee changes to the Council. 2.30.160 Payment: The utility fee shall be collected in the same manner and upon the same billing as is issued for the collection of water and sewer charges as provided in MLMC Chapter 13.12. 2.30.170 Billing for Ambulance Transports: A.Each person who is transported by the Ambulance Service Utility shall be billed by the city at the rates established by the Council. Each person transported will be exempt from out-of- pocket expenses associated with the ambulance transport provided that the patient is a city resident or is transported from a location that pays the utility fee, the patient supplies the city with all necessary information and documentation of records and insurance information, and the patient assigns to the city the patients's right to receive payment from all applicable payers. B.Patients who do not meet this criteria will be responsible for all applicable fees for the services provided by the Ambulance Service Utility. 2.30.180 Allocation of Billing Revenue: All revenue received from direct billing will be allocated to demand costs. Excess revenue will then be applied to availability costs. • make the affected property subject to the applicable utility fee. The utility fee shall become due and payable as of the date of the change in use or circumstance and it will continue until the parcel again meets the exemption requirements. 111 Adopted by the City Council and signed by its Mayor on December 12, 2006. ORDINANCE NO. 2280 PAGE 4 ATTEST: onald R. Cone, Finance Director ED AS TO FORM es A. Whi .ker, City Attorney r 12, 2006 4/11A1 016 n Ronald C. C• vey, Mayor ORDINANCE NO. 2280 PAGE 4 Ronald C. C vey, Mayor ATTEST: