The city of Aberdeen will implement an increase to the monthly Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Utility fee beginning on Jan. 1, 2026. The new rate of $67.54 will be reflected on residents’ February city utility bill.

According to a press release issued by the city, a cost of service study completed in 2024 found the current fee does not fully cover the cost of providing advanced life support and ambulance standby for the community. The budget for EMS operations has grown due to higher staffing levels to meet the rising volume of calls; equipment maintenance, repair and replacement costs; and vehicle maintenance and replacement costs.

Since EMS utility fees were codified and implemented in 2006, the RCW called for rate studies to justify the charges to residents. However, according to Aberdeen Fire Chief Dave Golding, Aberdeen’s rate studies and increases have been infrequent.

“The (city) councils throughout these rate studies either didn’t follow the recommendations and went with something different or did no increase at all,” Golding said. “The increases that have been done to the EMS rate over the year have been very sporadic.”

Aberdeen EMS monthly utility rates since 2006 (provided by Chief Golding):

2006: $12.88 – initial rate

2008: $14.95

2010: Rate study called for an increase to $20.51. The City Council opted for no rate increase.

2012: $21.82

2014: $22.80

2017: $23.97

2021: $27.96

2024: $31.87

2025: $34.11

Golding explained that EMS is a part and function of the Aberdeen Fire Department and provides emergency medical services including 911 ambulance response, transport, some treatment and release on scene, triage and mass casualty.

“(It’s) a model of fire-based EMS, in which we’re getting cross-trained firefighters to where they’re trained and certified in fire protection, as well as emergency medical care,” Golding said. “All of our firefighters are a minimum of EMT. I believe 17 of those are paramedics, our paramedic number is actually a little lower than we’d like. EMS is designed to be a standalone, self-sustaining operation that pays for equipment, training, part of the salaries, training, ambulances, anything that goes into that operations of that side of the business. The infrequent rate increases the city has done over the life of this have not even kept up with the cost of inflation. Our cost of doing business just keeps increasing as well.”

In addition to rising costs, which include gasoline and electricity, City Administrator Ruth Clemens said Aberdeen is struggling with hiring and retaining firefighters and paying competitive wages.

“Not to mention having to stay competitive in the job market, that’s a whole other thing that we we really struggle to keep up with … competing with the I-5 corridor or people that just go take big salary raises. … These are tough positions to fill,” Clemens said.

In the wake of the rate study, the city formed a utility rate committee composed of residents to further study the issue and formulate recommendations for the city council to consider. The new rate, which goes into effect Jan. 1, came from the work of the rate committee.

“We felt like we needed members of the community to provide a recommendation to the council. Through a process, each ward got to select who represented them on the ‘URAC,’ which is what we call them,” Clemens said. “We spent from February until August educating them on everything about the city operations and how everything works, because our hope is not only that they will provide feedback and recommendations on the EMS utility rate, but that they will provide feedback on other rates that we have — stormwater, water and sewer. So we educated them, we gave them tours of our facilities, we let them know everything that went into rate-making, we answered their questions, and they put together this very, very very well-written, thoughtful report and recommendation to the council.”

Although the rate committee was made up of residents, Clemens said she was prepared for backlash and has already heard from some people in the community.

“I have been fielding some of those calls and I let them know this was not an easy decision, but it is absolutely needed. It has been significantly underfunded and it’s a cost of service increase,” Clemens said. “I walk them through step-by-step of what has occurred. I just took a call a couple days ago from a pretty irate resident. We think it’s really important to get the word out and start educating people early on.”

The city has been paying a $2 million subsidy to the Fire Department for EMS to cover the gap in funding due to the insufficient utility rate. “Since its inception, previous city councils have opted to not fully fund the city’s EMS operation by either opting to not increase rates or by increasing rates lower than what was being recommended at the time,” Golding said. “This has created a situation where the City’s general fund has been forced to subsidize the EMS operations.”

According to Clemens, this subsidy would have bankrupted the city.

“I finally had to say, through a set of budget workshops with the council, ‘This is where we’re headed, folks, this is the reality that we’re facing. We are headed toward bankruptcy at the way that we’re spending down our reserves. And we are not bringing in enough money, enough revenues to support our expenditures. So we have a decision to make,’” Clemens said. “I really applaud this council because this council has made a lot of tough decisions in the last three years that I’ve been here — a lot of tough decisions that past councils have kicked down the road because they didn’t want to do the thing that had to be done.”

Clemens added that there is a misconception that the EMS charge on their utility bill is a tax, when in fact it is a fee for a service.

“This is a cost of service, no different than any other utility service that people receive, whether it’s their power, their sewer, their garbage,” Clemens said. “They are paying for a service. I’ve heard from different people that they’re calling it a tax. It is not a tax. You are actually paying for a service.”

According to Golding, if you are a resident of Aberdeen and place an emergency call and an ambulance is dispatched, you will never see a bill for that response or transport to a medical facility.

“The way the utility is set up is as a resident of the city of Aberdeen and you are a utility rate payer, you call 911, we will respond to your home,” Golding said. “And if we transport you, we will bill your insurance. And anything insurance does not cover, we write off for the resident. And that is based on them paying the utility rate. A non-resident, we will bill insurance and then bill you the difference.”

Approximately 70% of EMS patients are Medicare and Medicaid recipients. The city receives a very low reimbursement from Medicare and Medicaid which forces the city to pay for the cost out of funds that are used to pay for police, parks, code enforcement, municipal court and other critical services. By adjusting the rate, the city can continue to fund the EMS program without major impacts to operations, availability or other critical programs.

“Those are the two insurance plans that have the lowest reimbursement rates. And the difference with those is we have to accept their payments as payment in full. So we cannot bill a patient any balance left over,” Golding said. “Unlike with private insurance like Humana, Regence, Blue Cross, whatever it might be, they allow you to do that, but we don’t for our residents. But they do fund a little bit better. So our collection rate is very low because the vast majority of our patients are Medicaid or Medicare.”

The city’s press release added that the city is committed to supporting residents who may experience financial hardship and ensuring that utility services remain accessible to all Aberdeen residents. In 2026, the city will introduce new utility assistance programs designed to help households manage their monthly city utility costs. These programs will offer income-based assistance and represent continued investment in affordability, equity, and community well-being.

The city also plans to collect more data on EMS program usage in order to create prevention initiatives which in turn can reduce long-term service demands and improve community health. Since the global COVID-19 pandemic, the city has double the call volume that has not declined.

“We are seeing trends where more and more people are using EMS services for preventative care and to address chronic conditions,” Clemens said via the press release. “Our hope is to create a community risk reduction program that will educate people and direct them to alternative resources for issues that are not necessarily emergencies.”

Clemens said that the EMS rate increase will help the city of Aberdeen’s current financial situation, which has caused the city to face harsh realities and budget cuts.

“It’s just a vicious cycle that I don’t think people understand that was the major cause of the city’s financial woes. We’re not out of the woods yet when it comes to our financial state, but we are better positioned at this point to have a more sustainable future for Aberdeen,” Clemens said. “EMS was making it difficult for me to keep cops and to keep programs, police programs and parks programs. I was having to look at this last year, we had identified several programs and positions that we were going to have to cut. There were still cuts that had to be made. It has been our goal to get the city to have some financial solvency. We have to focus on best practices, and that’s what my goal has been as city administrator.”