Oklahoma City to Charge Residents for EMS Subscription

The days of Oklahoma City subsidizing ambulance service through the city's sales tax revenues are coming to an end.

Ambulance service will cost Oklahoma City taxpayers $5 million in the next year, but only $1.6 million of that price tag will come from the city's general fund, city officials said Tuesday. The rest will come from city residents who will pay $3.65 per month on utility bills in return for a subscription to the Emergency Medical Services Authority TotalCare program, which covers out-of-pocket expenses for an ambulance ride.

The plan, approved by the city council earlier this year, will automatically enroll residential utility customers in TotalCare unless they opt out.

The plan was based on a program in Tulsa, which partners with Oklahoma City to run ambulance service through a trust.

Oklahoma City officials said the new billing system should generate about $3.3 million from October through the end of the fiscal year in June 2010.

City residents will receive instructions in their utility bills on how to opt out.