Someone asked if the city got reimbursed for their services. This is a copy of a bill sent out that shows proof that they do in fact get reimbursed. I have seen a bill from the City of Salisbury but they live in Fruitland (outside city limits), but in Wicomico County.
Another interesting point is the address listed for the City of Salisbury on the bill: Denton, Md 21629
I'm told they can only send you a bill three times. IF you do NOT pay it the City CANNOT charge you any more and must drop the bill, period. I was in ALL of the Work Session Meetings and Council Meetings on this issue. So I would believe it's a matter of public record.
IF you have ever been harassed you should contact your Council Person and let them know.
23 comments:
Denton Md is where the company that does the billing is located. The city has out sourced the billing instead of doing it in house. The company has a better success rate of collecting bills than when they had the employees doing it.
Joe:
Come off of it Kemosabe.
If the City covers in the County it should be reimbursed PERIOD.
Let the County try to collect from the user or their insurer.
Are not you the "successful businessman" -- that's how it goes Rockafella.
SO, ANON-809, ARE YOU SAYING THAT NONE OF MY WICOMICO COUNTY TAXES FUNDS ANYTHING IN THE CITY OF SALISBURY TOWN LIMITS? BECAUSE IF ONE RED CENT OF MY COUNTY TAXES GOES TO THE CITY OF SALISBURY THEN I EXPECT THEM TO COME TO MY AID, EVEN HERE IN PITTSVILLE, FOR FREE.
Millsie You could always be living in Pittsville , call 911 because you need an ambulance and special request Salisbury EMS. 911 would have to dispatch Pittsville.
A Salisbury Firefighter was in an accident in Hebrons area and requested Salisbury. Salisury was dispatched with Hebron even though Hebron provides excellent service. Funny thing with that is the providers working on Salisburys ambulance were vollies in Hebron.
Anonymous said...
Joe:
Come off of it Kemosabe.
If the City covers in the County it should be reimbursed PERIOD.
Let the County try to collect from the user or their insurer.
last time I checked kemosabe salisbury was in the county. all salisbury tax payers pay county taxes.
Isn't that a lot of money for a taxi ride to the hospital?
I HAVE ALWAYS HAD A PROBLEM WITH SALISBURY WANTING TO BE SEPERATE FROM THE COUNTY IN WHICH IT RESIDES. SALISBURY IS THE REASON THE COUNTY WENT TO PAID MEDICS. THE WHOLE SALISBURY - FRUITLAND THING. MY POINT IS IF MY TAXES GO TO PROVIDING SERVICES THEN DON'T BILL ME FOR IT TO. THAT IS LIKE THE SCHOOL SENDING HOME A BILL WITH MY KIDS FOR TEACHING THEM OR GETTING A BILL FROM SHA FOR USING RT. 50 TO GET TO WORK.
"Isn't that a lot of money for a taxi ride to the hospital?"
Then call a taxi. I'm sure their drivers have all the meds & Equipment needed to stabalize your sorry ass. Oh Yeah--driver only on the taxi--no medic to tend to you. But you can choose----medical attention (band-aids only if even that) or run like hell to the hospital--cant have both.
Not sick or injured enough for emergency medical transport? than a taxi is all you need. $10.50 please. Trouble is, you can't stiff a taxi company like you can the city EMERGENCY service.
umpire said...
"Isn't that a lot of money for a taxi ride to the hospital?"
Then call a taxi. I'm sure their drivers have all the meds & Equipment needed to stabalize your sorry ass. Oh Yeah--driver only on the taxi--no medic to tend to you. But you can choose----medical attention (band-aids only if even that) or run like hell to the hospital--cant have both.
Not sick or injured enough for emergency medical transport? than a taxi is all you need. $10.50 please. Trouble is, you can't stiff a taxi company like you can the city EMERGENCY service.
9:52 PM
"stabalize?"
At least my "sorry ass" can spell you sorry ass wannabe farmin!
"Trouble is, you can't stiff a taxi company like you can the city EMERGENCY service."
Trouble is, you can't stiff the city like the city can stiff us!!!!!!
Joe,
The billing 3-times for payments is what the county volunteer ems services does not the City of Salisbury. The City of Salisbury EMS Department is a for profit business entity. Being an intelligent business man such as yourself you should know this. The City will send the bill to a collection agency if you do not pay. Check with your mole (s) he/she should verify the same.
A-Mouse @ 9:07 (and others):
Yes, Salisbury prop. owners pay county taxes, but the County services here are nil -- only a couple roads that I can think of. So we should get a break -- called a "differential" -- on our county taxes, so that we don't pay as much for stuff we don't get.
Richard Pollitt said that he would consider it but nothing has happened, but the County spends tons of money on fancy pens and another rec. area on the west side, but nothing for the zoo.
the problem is that the county also on average pays just around 1 million dollars a year to the city for services outside the city limits....thus the reason for the city - county contract. and FYI the city has let the county know that the 3 year term is up and they want to renegotiaite the contract( just another way to get more money out of the county). The county pays for each piece of equipment ( fire or medical) that goes out into the county. even if it is in their "first due" . So in my opinion keep the city in the city and the county departments can take very good care of their own districts.
In the end all this circles back to a dead horse we have beat a few times about the need for a county ambulance and fire service. Rick Pollitt would have to find some balls and go against the county fire chiefs and set up such a program. The Medics are in place throughout the county. Chase units are not that much in the long run. Sussex county Del has a program that works. Salisbury could be included in this program. Those departments that would refuse to be included would lose their county funding.
How much money is dolled out to the stations total for EMS vs the cost of a county run EMS system? I dont have numbers in front of me but I bet it to be cost effective to go with a county run system.
I think that Salisbury residents get these bills too. What about that new fire boat?
I thought that the county was going to help fund the zoo with the hotel tax money?
That's $570 that the zoo won't get because of the pen fiasco. I don't buy the whole story of those pens as they were given to the county executive and all 7 council members who are on the public payroll, so I don't buy that "promotional" crap. Try selling that somewhere else.
a few years ago when the county players were deciding on how best to cover EMS they looked into chase vehiclescost about 4-5 millions start up and 1-2 yearly to run the units with 2 paramedics and the equipment needed. the county gives each dept with an ambulance approx 65,000 for having ambulances. and 82,000 for the paramedic's salary (figures are not exact but IMO they are close.
Anonymous said...
SALISBURY IS THE REASON THE COUNTY WENT TO PAID MEDICS. THE WHOLE SALISBURY - FRUITLAND THING. MY POINT IS IF MY TAXES GO TO PROVIDING SERVICES THEN DON'T BILL ME FOR IT TO.
9:34 PM
I have been following this EMS fiasco for some time now and wondered why the Allen Fire Department wanted it's own ambulance and paramedics when Salisbury ambulance did a good service for them. I like many citizens in the county have a scanner and I listen to the county dispatch and I realize now why the Allen wanted their own ambulance. They wanted that extra money for the ambulance and the paid paramedics which they don't need. They get funding for 2 full time paramedics and they don't pay them the amount that the county alloted for their pay. Last I heard it was $13 an hour so I want to know what Allen does with the rest of that county money.
I can also tell from the scanner that they don't get very many ambulance calls and when they do it is to go down to Princess Anne or Somerset County? They love this so they can bill and keep the money for the fire department. Does Somerset County reimburse Wicomico County for the services our tax dollars are paying for. I would guess that 99% of Allens ambulance calls are in Somerset County and our tax dollars are paying for it.
I would like to see the One Ton Gorilla and the Seven Dwarves demand an audit from the Allen fire department to justify the funding it recieves from the county. The bottom line is that Allen doesn't need its own ambualance and the county tax payers are getting ripped off because of the ignorance of our elected officials.
I want a RECALL!!
You tell all those big money property owners out on Collins Wharf and Cooper Road that they don't need ambulance service in the Eden/Allen area and see what happens.
What does it take to dissolve the city charter and do away with Salisbury and its crooks completely?
4 to 5 million to start up. some one came up with that figure to scare off the thought of it. You already have paramedics through out the county employeed by individual departments which could be brought under a county fire and ems system. 5 Chase units could be purchased for the paramedics to use. or if it was under 1 county fire ems department then the ambulances that would be brought in from the current individual departments could be used. The system is in place and just needs to be brought under 1 umbrella. this would also prevent duplication of equipment of equipment and services. Does every station in the county really need a rescue and a ladder?, nope but a good box system would help.
Many average citizens try well to relate billing for public safety services with the actual delivery of such services, but it is easier said then done. There are many words being loosely used that can easily confuse people. There is no "County" EMS. I believe, when people say such, they are actually referring to the other "departments" in the county that provide EMS. Each department outside of Salisbury has been able to attain its own paid EMS because they recognized that they were unable to meet all the calls in their area and could not let their citizens suffer due to delayed response. This is not at all uncommon throughout the nation's volunteer fire service. Some departments in Wicomico County actually have a agreement to share a paid EMS employee in order to share the burden of the cost to pay this employee. In this example, the employee will work different days between each station and respond to EMS calls for each department. Coupled with respective volunteers responding as well, and this allows for the service to be delivered in a timely manner without delay.
Allen created its EMS service with the same reasoning it created its fire department; to provide its citizens with timely response. Nor did they did not seek out to have EMS employees for the purpose of financial gain, but to again provide the proper service in a timely manner. During the daytime, home response is at its lowest, just like with every other volunteer department. To have a paid EMT or Paramedic available will allow the patient to receive the immediate attention and care required.
The average citizen cannot equate paying for public safety services as they would any other public service, especially without understanding how the fire service in the county works. Once uninformed citizens begin demanding such a rigid cost-cutting review, you will begin to see what is known as "subscription" fire and EMS service. This is common in some areas of the mid-west and north mid-west. If you do not pay your subscription, or dues, to your local fire department, or if you are outside a neighboring department's area and not a subscriber, then your loved one may go without medical attention or your home may be allowed to burn. This link will take you to a recent news story of such an example, http://cms.firehouse.com/web/online/News/Burned-Alaska-House-was-Outside-Service-Area/46$57795
It would be best to become better informed about how the fire departments in Wicomico County work, before trying to call for fiscal accountability.
Bill Carey
That is how they work but how well would a county controled county wide system work. I believe it would save the tax payers money instead of giving all the individual stations money which isnt being used equally. Delmar gets funding and has 24 hour ALS coverage. Allen gets funding but does not have 24 hour ALS coverage. With a county wide system all citizens would recieve 24 hour ALS coverage.
Not trying to knock Allen they are trying to do a good thing.
William (Bill) Carey said...
Many average citizens try well to relate billing for public safety services with the actual delivery of such services, but it is easier said then done. There are many words being loosely used that can easily confuse people. There is no "County" EMS. I believe, when people say such, they are actually referring to the other "departments" in the county that provide EMS. Each department outside of Salisbury has been able to attain its own paid EMS because they recognized that they were unable to meet all the calls in their area and could not let their citizens suffer due to delayed response. This is not at all uncommon throughout the nation's volunteer fire service. Some departments in Wicomico County actually have a agreement to share a paid EMS employee in order to share the burden of the cost to pay this employee. In this example, the employee will work different days between each station and respond to EMS calls for each department. Coupled with respective volunteers responding as well, and this allows for the service to be delivered in a timely manner without delay.
Allen created its EMS service with the same reasoning it created its fire department; to provide its citizens with timely response. Nor did they did not seek out to have EMS employees for the purpose of financial gain, but to again provide the proper service in a timely manner. During the daytime, home response is at its lowest, just like with every other volunteer department. To have a paid EMT or Paramedic available will allow the patient to receive the immediate attention and care required.
The average citizen cannot equate paying for public safety services as they would any other public service, especially without understanding how the fire service in the county works. Once uninformed citizens begin demanding such a rigid cost-cutting review, you will begin to see what is known as "subscription" fire and EMS service. This is common in some areas of the mid-west and north mid-west. If you do not pay your subscription, or dues, to your local fire department, or if you are outside a neighboring department's area and not a subscriber, then your loved one may go without medical attention or your home may be allowed to burn. This link will take you to a recent news story of such an example, http://cms.firehouse.com/web/online/News/Burned-Alaska-House-was-Outside-Service-Area/46$57795
It would be best to become better informed about how the fire departments in Wicomico County work, before trying to call for fiscal accountability.
Bill Carey
5:52 PM
I respect your opinion(s), but these are the most assanine comments I have ever heard. As you read earlier the ambulance from Allen spends most of its service time in Somerset County so how is that benifitting the taxpayer in the Allan fire district or Wicomico County.
Thank you. I am not certain what it is about my comments that seem to trouble you, as it was not done to do that; however, as I understand your descriptive word, I don't believe my comments to be foolish or stupid. I extend the respect to your opinion as well and will try to present my comments better.
To have a certified, stocked, maintained and staffed EMS transport unit inside the fire department proper is how it is beneficial to the citizens of Allen and neighboring communities. That alone is how the citizens benefit. In the past, EMS transport was provided by either Salisbury or Princess Anne. Now, with both career and volunteer staffing, the time to transport from the Allen community is reduced. It is similar to the same benefit afforded to the Allen community when, long ago, certain individuals started the fire department. At that time fire suppression was handled by either the Fruitland or Princess Anne fire departments.
I can understand the civilian (I use civilian since I tend to look at this in terms of a member of the fire service) view of paying for services and not expecting said services to be abused, especially by those outside of incorporated boundaries. However, as I have written earlier, I believe you cannot compare paying for public safety services in the same manner as you would other city or county services. Public safety organizations, specifically fire departments, operate with mutual aid agreements. This is common across the country. The purpose of such is for departments to have an agreed upon operational plan to support each other and their respective municipalities in times of emergencies. In some locations, departments may not cross city or county lines ever, unless there is a large incident. In other cases, especially due to the geographical location of departments, they may cross these lines routinely, almost daily. Fire departments, mostly, do not look at limiting the protection they provide to civilians, in terms of incorporated boundaries. It simply goes against the grain of being an organization of first responders and providing assistance. It is true, the “what if” of having Allen’s ambulance on a call in Somerset County and a citizen on Campground Road needing an ambulance, but unless there are specifics that show a large number of calls and time being spent in Somerset County, you are playing a hypothetical guessing game. Your statement of Allen's ambulance supposedly spending most of its in service time in Princess Anne, you may be correct of recent incidents. But I know the past incidents and such, and that is not the case, nor is it the norm. Allen is one of three "next due" ambulances to be dispatched to Princess Anne, in the event that Princess Anne is unable to respond. You should be able to see that this mutual aid is not only between departments within a county, but between counties as well. To be what I will call narrow minded is to actually propose cutting service to you, family, friends and coworkers. Fire suppression and EMS is fairly given to everyone in Wicomico and Somerset counties regardless of their physical residence and to whom they pay county taxes. Two major highways run through the area, carrying many people who may not even be residents of either county, or of any county on the Eastern Shore. To demand that public safety services be limited to the county tax base it serves leaves many people hypothetically neglected. Likewise, you yourself, should you travel between incorporated areas of the county, could be at greater risk, should you have such a rigid, or as mentioned earlier, subscription public safety. Consider, in the reasoning you present as I understand it, that you, a citizen of Willards for illustration, is traveling to Crisfield, along Route 13. An accident at Flower Hill Church Road leaves you pinned in your vehicle and suffering traumatic injury. In such a fiscally rigid setting, you might not receive the closest paramedic staffed EMS transport, because according to you, they would need to stay in Allen. You might have to wait for a first responder (fire engine, heavy rescue apparatus, and BLS ambulance) to come from a department farther away, because closer units, according to you would need to stay in their respective county. Consider people whose homes are located on the north side of Line Road and outside of the incorporated city limits of Delmar. That similar taxpayer accountability viewpoint would have those people, only minutes from the Delmar Volunteer Fire Department, having to wait for the response of the next closest Delaware first responder.
Such a rigid view of delivering county and municipal services may work when applied to sanitation, public works and schools, but it is not as black and white when it comes to delivering fire and EMS to those in need, especially when time is the greatest consideration. In the metropolitan Washington, D.C. area, fire departments daily cross county lines responding to people in various emergencies. One of Montgomery County's busiest paramedic units runs most of its calls in Prince George's county, based on the location of their quarters. In Prince George's, the department's busiest paramedic routinely runs into three different counties. Laurel Rescue Squad is quartered in area that places them close to Montgomery, Howard and Anne Arundel counties. To the west, the three departments that make up the Bowie Volunteer Fire Department routinely run on alarms in neighboring Anne Arundel County. To the south, various Charles County fire and EMS units respond to incidents in southern Prince George's County. Where my department is located, there were many alarms along the D.C., Maryland border, and most often when dispatched as being on the Maryland side, the call was actually on the D.C. side. Yet, neither time was there a view of thought that because such alarms were not in our area, not in the state, that we would simply leave and let the DC Fire/EMS be called to respond. On more then one shift, my crew and I have been to many parts of the county before the end of the night. You can find many examples such as this in many, many parts of the country.
As I said earlier, I can understand the civilian perspective of providing public safety services for the said tax base, but, as I have also said you cannot easily compare public safety as you would other county and/or city services. To do so, you must become better informed about how all the fire departments in the county operate and how the county distributes the monies to each. Likewise you would need to organize other constituents and lobby your legislature as well, rather then calling for some random fiscal accountability of specific fire departments. I will also add that if my comments still seem to be asinine, then I am gratefully accepting that. I cannot imagine what the taxpayers of Wicomico County think of having money spent on Christmas pens would be considered, if providing immediate fire and EMS service based on the closest first responders available is considered foolish and stupid.
Bill Carey
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