The City of Hood River’s ambulance service is finally running in the black, mostly due to the work of an aggressive collection agency.

At last week’s city council meeting, Asst. Fire Chief Devon Wells said all but $51,000 of $253,978 in past debt has been brought into the city coffers. He and Chief Jeff Walker began utilizing the services of Springfield Fire and Life Safety this spring to recoup lost revenue.

“They are very thorough in processing claims and bills,” said Wells. “They help people set up a payment plan but they don’t accept write-offs.”

He said the ambulance service relies on the money from transports to cover the cost of staff wages and equipment repairs/purchases. He said Medicare allows only $202 to be charged for basic service transport of its patients so other clients need to pay what they owe.

Wells gained agreement from city officials on Jan. 14th to raise ambulance rates for the first time in two years. He said more money was needed to cover the rising cost of fuel and operational expenses.

“We want to meet our financial needs but we don’t want to charge more than what the state average is,” he said.

The council adopted these “middle of the road” transport fees: Basic Life Support is now $900 instead of $685, Advanced Life Support Level I has risen from $940 to $1,225 and Level 2 from $1,075 to $1,400. Special Care Transport has gone up from $1,450 to $1,885. The rate has risen from $15 per patient mile to $19.50, with a 1-mile minimum charge. The surcharge for non-city residents is now $200 instead of $100.

In other city news, the council shelved the idea of taxing downtown buildings to pay the salary of a person to market the business corridor.

The idea for an Economic Improvement District was brought forward by the Downtown Business Association. However, the possibility of higher rents met with resistance from service providers who believed that only commercial enterprises would benefit from the tax. The suggested charge was five cents per square foot on properties Oak, State, Columbia and Industrial streets.

The fee would have been slightly lower, at three cents per square foot, along Cascade and Sherman avenues. The portion of buildings used for residences would not have been subjected to the charge, which was expected to generate about $27,000 per year toward a marketing coordinator’s salary.

Although discussion was given toward the tax being voluntary, the DBA believed it was inequitable to ask some businesses to pay for a service that benefited the entire area.

The city is gearing up for major street improvements along a two-block section of Oak Street that are expected to begin in February and end by mid-May, the off season for most stores.

The final phase of Urban Renewal District work that began in the late 1990s will take place between Third and Fifth streets, along with the section of Fourth Street between State and Oak streets, where utilities will be undergrounded.

Downtown property owners agreed, when approving the URD, to pay an additional yearly tax of 62 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation for the improvements, a total amount of about $750,000 per year.

The extra funding has been used to replace metal water lines that could leach lead with heavy-duty plastic pipe. In addition, the possibility of a sewer backflow has been lessened with the installation of new mains.

On the surface, ornamental trees have been planted and new benches placed along Oak to provide shade and a place for people to rest.