Councilman rekindles third-party billing discussion for Meadville’s fire department

Nov. 09--Meadville City Council's discussion of future financial concerns for the fire department took an unexpected turn to past talks during Wednesday's study session on the 2018 budget.

As the budget process begins, the city faces a deficit of $280,000 on an overall preliminary budget of $9.8 million. Council members and city staff heard from representatives of the Meadville Area Recreation Authority as well as the police and fire departments Wednesday and also discussed the Parking Fund.

By far the most vigorous discussion of the evening concerned the possibility of third-party billing for fire department services, an issue that was voted on and presumably decided 18 months ago. The topic was so far off the collective council radar that even the member who brought it up seemed surprised about it -- as well as by the contentious responses it provoked.

"I didn't realize I was going to create so much upset," Councilman Bob Langley said following the lengthy meeting.

Still, he said, the reason to revisit the issue is clear: "They (Meadville Central Fire Department) need the revenue, we need the revenue."

While the preliminary budgets for the police and fire departments do not include deficits, the fire department budget in particular comes on the heels of a combative budget process last year, when council eliminated three vacant firefighter positions and reduced the minimum crew staffing level from four firefighters to three.

Third-party billing would allow the fire department to hire an outside company that specializes in the practice to bill insurance companies for services and materials used when the fire department responds, for instance, to car crashes. The fire department has the right to bill now -- and does, Chief Evan Hasko assured the council -- but it does not have the expertise to deal with different insurance companies' requirements or the staffing to chase after payments when bills are ignored. Discussions in 2016 estimated the potential revenue at between $20,000 and $60,000, a range that was cited again in Wednesday's discussion.

For nearly 20 minutes, discussion focused on a variety of current challenges facing the department: one months-long staff vacancy following a retirement, other staff members on medical leaves, the possibility of hiring part-time firefighters, the 15-month wait for a decision in the arbitration case between the city and the firefighters' Local 515, and cuts to volunteer ambulance services elsewhere in Crawford County.

Amid these topics, Langley abruptly turned to Gary Alizzeo, the city's attorney, to ask a question.

"If council were to want to revisit something we revisited earlier this year as a policy because I was absent and unable to vote, would that be a decision that they could possibly do that?" he asked/

Told that he or any council member "can raise any issues whenever they want by motion," Langley immediately made a motion to revisit the discussion of third-party billing -- a topic that was previously discussed and voted down in April 2016.

Langley's support was immediately echoed by Deputy Mayor Sean Donahue and Councilman John Battaglia, who had both voted in favor of it last year. The vote ended in a 2-2 tie due to Langley's absence and was defeated. Mayor LeRoy Stearns and Councilwoman Nancy Mangilo Bittner both voted against it.

Mangilo Bittner's skepticism regarding the process -- and even the notion of revisiting it -- was evident again Wednesday as she raised the possibility of a billing company harassing residents, questioned whether the insurance policies of those billed would see increases or even be cancelled, and suggested that the revenue generated by the practice would fall short of the levels advertised.

Stearns offered little comment on the topic during the meeting, but at a candidates forum held in October during the lead-up to Tuesday's election, he cited his 2016 vote against the measure and expressed continuing reservations.

Billing a resident for fire department services, he said, could amount to "double billing."

"You're paying for a service your taxes are already paying for," he said.

Based on the positions expressed Wednesday, if the topic had been up for a vote, it would have passed 3-2 -- just as it would have if Langley had been present for the April 2016 vote. Instead of voting for or against the unexpected topic of discussion, however, council voted unanimously to put the topic on a future agenda at a time when city staff can provide additional research as well as information from multiple possible billing companies.

Exactly when the topic will be appear on an agenda, however, was unclear. City Manager Andy Walker expressed uncertainty about the staff's ability to answer council's concerns and bring the topic back before them by the end of the year, though he added that if it could happen if that's what council prefers.

Timing is an issue: council members in favor of third-party billing could have moved to re-address the topic at any time in the past 18 months. Instead, the topic comes up just weeks before Langley, who currently represents the deciding vote on the issue, leaves the council, having chosen not to seek re-election this year. Jim Roha, who was elected Tuesday, will take the seat now occupied by Langley in January.

For his part, Roha, who was in the audience for the meeting, said afterward that third-party billing might be a viable source of revenue, "but I would almost rather see them try it in-house first." The department, he suggested, might look to the possibility of "interns" with experience in the technicalities of insurance billing from local vocational institutions.

Mike Crowley can be reached at 724-6370 or by email at [email protected].

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