SEAL BEACH : Residents May Face Paramedics Fee

Residents soon may have to pay a $30 to $45 annual fee for paramedic services, the County Fire Department’s chief of strategic planning told the City Council this week.

Richard Witesman said fire officials are seeking the fees to give the department an additional source of revenue. Analysts estimate that the fees will generate $2.1 million annually.

Currently, half of the department’s $83-million annual budget comes from the Special District Augmentation Fund, which is paid into by residents via property taxes.

According to Witesman, the Fire Department takes more out of the fund than Orange County residents put in. The department has been asked to find alternatives to its overdependence on the fund.

“We have to try to find a means to be able to fund the demand for our services,” Witesman said. “We’re projecting a $77-million deficit by the year 2000. We’re hoping half of that will be made up by the revenue generation program, and the rest we’ll have to make up by frugality,” he said.

According to City Manager Robert Nelson, the County Fire Department also might seek an increase in the fees paid by 14 area cities for the department’s firefighting services. If approved by the County Board of Supervisors, the rate hike could increase Seal Beach’s fees from $1.8 million a year to $2.4 million by 1991.