Caledonia Argus

City to implement new fees to address loss of state aid

Posted: 6/17/03

by Jane Palen
Managing editor

In the face of a reduction of $83,000 in local government aid, the city council took the first step Monday evening in trying to balance its budget for the rest of the year .

In the special meeting, the council agreed to assess a monthly fee of $1 per residence for street lights, and $2 per commercial business. The charge will appear on utility bills starting in July. The new fee will bring in about $7,110 for the remainder of the year and $14,220 for 2004.

The council also discussed a number of other cost-saving items which it will act on at its regular meeting on June 23.

The possible cuts include a reduction in expenses for the mayor of $100 for the rest of 2003 and $200 in 2004; a cut of $10,000 per year in the police department; a reduction in capital expenses for the fire department that total $9,000 each year; reduction in crack filling on city streets of $13,365 for 2003 and $5,000 in 2004; a cutback in hours for community development director Joyce Iverson to save $1,500 in 2003 and $3,000 in 2004; and elimination of the donation for the transit buses to save $2,000 in 2003 and $4,000 in 2004.

Other revenue items include increasing the charge for a fire call to $200, which is estimated to bring in $1,000 in 2003 and $2,000 in 2004 and increases in pool fees that are expected to raise about $500 per year. The council will also consider charging Houston County $500 a year for providing the phone for the EDA director Joyce Iverson, who also works for the county.

These and other new revenue sources could bring the city an additional $11,846, while reductions in expenditures could save $67,565 for 2003. In 2004, increases in revenue could add up to $22,692 and decreases in expenditures could total $67,610 for a total savings of $90,302.

The council noted that some expenses are likely to go up in the coming year, including insurance, utilities and wages.

Townships favor local ambulance service

Representatives from various townships served by the Caledonia Ambulance Service attended Mondayís meeting to discuss the future of the Caledonia Ambulance Service. The ambulance service ended the year 2003 with a deficit of about $25,000, due in large part to a new law which prohibits the city from trying to collect the amount that Medicare does not pay from clients.

ìThis discussion has nothing to do with the quality of the ambulance service,î said Mayor Robert Burns. ìWe can balance the budge this year without doing anything, but we have concerns over next year.î

Tri-State Ambulance has expressed an interest in taking over the Caledonia Ambulance Service, and would buy the ambulances and pay rent on the building, said Burns.

Bob Augedahl, who works for Tri-State Ambulance and is also co-director of the Caledonia Ambulance Service with Mary Bubbers, said he expects to see a lot of small ambulance services go out of business due to the inadequate Medicare assignments. The only way to address that, he said, is to charge higher fees to patients not on Medicare.

Speaking for the township officers, Kermit McRae said that he doesnít see how a private company can make ends meet when the city canít.

The townships of Brownsville, Caledonia, Crooked Creek, Jefferson, Mayville, Sheldon, Union, Wilmington and Winnebago, as well as the cities of Eitzen and Brownsville, are served by the Caledonia Ambulance Service and, with the exception of Union Township, contribute towards the ambulance a the rate of $5 per capita.

ìClearly, we want to bring Union Township into the fold,î said McRae.

McRae said that he talked to a Medicare representative and was told that Medicare determines the value of a service and then pays 80 percent of that amount. McRae said he was told that the city can attempt to recover the other 20 percent, and urged the council to check into that.

ìIt seems to be an opportunity to solve the problem,î he said.

Currently, Tri-State ambulance, which is owned by Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center, charges $520 for a basic ambulance run, as opposed to $410 for Caledonia. Caledonia runs an EMT-basic service which has several variances in order to give certain medications and start IVs. Tri-State Ambulance has an EMT-Intermediate service.

Mayor Burns said that it is unlikely that any change will be made in 2003, and suggested that the group meet again with co-director Mary Bubbers in attendance.

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