Sample letter

Please cut and paste this text and personalize it as appropriate. Fill in the date, name of Councilmember, and your name.  For email addresses and more reasons to oppose the ambulance fee, click here. 

                                                               Date

The Honorable ____________________
Montgomery County Council
100 Maryland Avenue
Rockville, Maryland 20850

                Re:  Bill 25-08, "Emergency Medical Services Transport Fee"

Dear Councilmember _____________:

I wish to express my opposition to Bill 25-08, "Emergency Medical Services Transport Fee," which proposes to charge for calling 911 for emergency medical service. The County Council wisely rejected this proposal several years ago -- and it should reject it once again.

An ambulance fee -- which could run from $350 to $800 -- is a bad idea for many reasons.

First, a fee may deter residents from calling 9-1-1 when they need help most. Residents should not have to worry about the possibility of insurance hassles or additional paperwork when experiencing a heart attack, trouble breathing, or other serious medical emergency.

Second, claims regarding the County’s fire/rescue budget needs are shaky. Has the County explored alternative ways of saving money and reducing inefficiencies? Moreover, there appears to be no guarantee that funds from the fee will “supplement,” rather than “supplant” existing the existing Fire Tax.

Third, the fee will not strengthen our fire/rescue system. Residents already pay a separate Fire Tax that funds more than 95% of the fire/rescue system’s operating budget, and many residents donate more to local departments. Why should the County collect twice for 9-1-1 service?

Finally, the County is proposing to charge for a service that the professionally trained volunteers with many local fire/rescue departments provide for free. That's simply wrong.

The Council rightly rejected an ambulance fee during the County's last budget crisis. It should do so again.

                                                          Sincerely,

                                                          Your Name

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The Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad, Inc.

5020 Battery Lane, Bethesda, Maryland 20814