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.…
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
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-…
Tuesday, August 28, 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.…
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…
Friday, May 11, 2012
The proposed legislation will go before the full Montgomery County Council on Tuesday. What do you think about the re-submission of an EMS fee for Montgomery County?
The newly proposed EMS Fee will head to the Montgomery County Council on Tuesday with a recommendation against approval from the council's public safety committee. Amid a contentious meeting Friday, amendments and details to the proposed legislation were hashed out between council committee members, representatives for the county executive office and Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services. In a vote of 2-1, the committee recommended council reject the amended bill. "I think [County Executive Ike Leggett's] re-submittal of this bill is the single worst decision he's made since I've been here, and I don't say that lightly," said Public Safety Committee Chairman Phil Andrews (D-Dist. 3). “It is crucial to make judgments that do not …
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
But County Council refuses to take 11 ambulances out of service
Twenty administrative positions for volunteer firefighter stations are gone after Montgomery County Council members cut $32 million in mid-year spending on Tuesday. Their actions also eliminated some neighborhood senior programs and youth recreation activities, but they fell $4 million short of County Executive Isiah Leggett's proposal. Leggett (D) wanted to trim $36 million as a step toward plugging an estimated $350 million budget shortfall, but council members balked at some of the harshest proposals. The council rejected taking 11 ambulances out of service, and ending a program that provides energy rebates to poor families. Members also did not want to cut three neighborhood senior centers that serve food to low-income elderly …
Costco Gas Man
3:08 pm on Thursday, May 16, 2013
You jest, but that's most likely where It will go. more ›