The Ocean Shores City Council on Monday narrowly approved what opponents called a 254 percent increase in the monthly ambulance utility service fee as a prelude for completing the 2018 city budget, which also was approved on a 5-2 vote after several revisions.
The proposed 2018 budget has included a utility fee increase aimed at keeping the Fire Department at its current staffing level, and it is based on a consultant’s service and rate study “status quo” scenario. That results in a utility rate increase with a projected monthly cost to ratepayers of $19.03, as opposed to the current rate of $7.48 a month.
The report by the FCS Group consultants, “Ambulance Utility Cost of Service and Rate Study,” examines how the city can cover the cost of keeping the seven firefighter/paramedics after a federal grant that allowed them to be hired for two years expires at the end of this year.