Ambulance membership bills baffle Q.C. residents

Confusion has plagued some Queen Creek residents who have recently received bills in the mail from Rural/Metro Fire Department.

But those bills are not for fire service in the town, which started its own property tax-funded fire department in January. The bills are for ambulance service that the town does not currently provide.

Rural/Metro spokeswoman Anne-Marie Braswell said what some people are seeing in their mailboxes is a bill for annual ambulance membership at a cost of $62.15 a year.

"We continue to be the ambulance service provider and continue to offer the ambulance membership program to the residents of Queen Creek," Braswell said in an e-mail.

The ambulance membership notices are mailed out about 45 days before the membership expires. The company takes only full payment for the membership, no partial contracts.

Braswell said the top of the ambulance membership renewal is plainly marked with the words "Medical Transport Membership."

"So it should be easy for residents to determine if it's an ambulance membership versus a fire contract," she said.

Braswell said no fire service notices have been sent out to people living in the Queen Creek town limits, but if anyone has received a fire service bill, they can call (480) 627-6200 to resolve the error.

Queen Creek spokeswoman Marnie Schubert said the town does staff firetrucks with trained paramedics, but subscriptions for ambulance service allow Rural/Metro to bill medical insurance and cover the costs of ambulance service for an emergency.

"Because our firefighters are first responders and not an ambulance service, (Rural/Metro firefighters) are able to offer this service in town," Schubert said. "We don't have our own ambulances."

Schubert said the town does not have a master ambulance contract in place but is looking into it. She said there is no time line available on when such a contract could be put in place.

"Right now we're gathering information," she said.