Major Ambulance Fee Increase: Proposed Ordinance Would Raise Resident Transport Fees by Nearly 67%
June 05, 2026 | Freeport, IL
Freeport residents could soon face substantially higher ambulance transport charges under a proposal scheduled for discussion at Monday's Committee of the Whole meeting.
The ordinance, presented by Fire Chief Tom Korte on June 8, 2026, would increase ambulance transport fees for both residents and non-residents, raise mileage charges, update lift-assistance fees, and establish a new revenue-sharing agreement for advanced life support services provided outside the city.
If approved, the proposal would represent one of the largest fee increases considered by the City Council in recent years.
Nearly 67%
For the average Freeport resident, the proposed ordinance would increase the base ambulance transport charge from $1,200 to $2,000.
That is an increase of:
$800 per transport
66.7%
For non-residents, the base transport fee would increase from $1,700 to $2,500, an increase of 47.1%.
Mileage charges would also increase from $14 per loaded mile to $20 per loaded mile, a 42.9% increase.
Why Is The City Seeking An Increase?
According to a memorandum submitted by Fire Chief Tom Korte, Freeport's ambulance rates have not been adjusted since 2022 despite an ordinance allowing annual inflation-based increases tied to the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U), capped at five percent annually.
The memo states those increases were never implemented.
As a result, city officials argue Freeport's ambulance rates have fallen behind both inflation and rates charged by comparable agencies throughout northern Illinois.
To support the proposal, the Fire Department participated in a regional rate study conducted through MABAS Division 8, which includes agencies in Winnebago, Boone, and Stephenson Counties.
The survey received responses from 22 agencies.
According to the Fire Department, Freeport currently falls within the lower third of ambulance rates charged by agencies participating in the study and the proposed increases would place Freeport closer to regional averages. However, the regional comparison also fails to account for an important reality: Freeport is officially classified as a Distressed Community and has a higher proportion of low-income and senior residents than many of the communities used for comparison. While neighboring communities may charge similar rates, the ability of residents to absorb those costs may be very different.
Current Rates vs. Proposed Rates
Current Charges
Residents
$1,200 transport fee
$14 per loaded mile
Non-Residents
$1,700 transport fee
$14 per loaded mile
Proposed Charges
Residents
$2,000 transport fee
$20 per loaded mile
Non-Residents
$2,500 transport fee
$20 per loaded mile
The ordinance would apply these rates to both Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Life Support (ALS) transports.
Medicare, Medicaid, and Insurance
One of the most important details buried within the proposal is that the amount billed is often not the amount ultimately collected.
According to the Fire Department:
Private insurance accounts for approximately 95.1 percent of ambulance transports.
Self-pay patients account for approximately 3.8 percent.
VA and Tricare patients account for approximately 1.1 percent.
The memo further states that Medicare and Medicaid reimburse based on their own reimbursement schedules, meaning local rate increases do not necessarily translate into higher Medicare or Medicaid payments.
The city also reports that collection rates from uninsured residents remain extremely low, with less than ten percent of billed charges ultimately collected.
Ambulance Revenue Already Supports City Operations
The Fire Department reports approximately $1.8 million in ambulance revenue during the previous year.
Of that amount, approximately $755,550 was transferred into the City's General Fund.
That means ambulance revenue is not solely supporting emergency medical services. A substantial portion is already helping fund broader city operations.
As council members consider increasing ambulance fees, some may wish to better understand how ambulance revenue is currently allocated between emergency services, capital equipment, vehicle replacement, and general governmental expenses.
What Could This Mean For The General Fund?
The Fire Department reports approximately $1.8 million in ambulance revenue during the previous year.
Of that amount, approximately $755,550 was transferred into the City's General Fund.
That means nearly 42% of ambulance revenue ultimately supported general city operations.
What remains unknown is how much additional revenue the proposed rate increases are expected to generate.
The city has not provided an estimate.
However, the scale of the proposed increase is significant.
The resident transport fee would increase by 66.7%, while mileage charges would increase by 42.9%.
If ambulance collections were to increase proportionally to the proposed rate increases—a theoretical scenario, not a projection—annual ambulance revenue could exceed $3 million and General Fund transfers could exceed $1.2 million.
Whether actual collections would increase by that amount is unknown. Medicare, Medicaid, insurance contracts, write-offs, and uncollected accounts all affect what the city ultimately receives.
That uncertainty is precisely why council members should demand revenue projections before approving the increase.
When a proposal has the potential to affect hundreds of thousands of dollars in city revenue, taxpayers deserve more than estimates.
They deserve answers.
New ALS Intercept Agreement
Council members will also consider approving a new Emergency Medical Services and Ambulance Transportation Joint Response Agreement.
Under the proposal:
Freeport paramedics could respond outside the city's normal service area.
Another ambulance provider would continue transporting the patient.
Freeport personnel would provide advanced life support care during transport.
The requesting ambulance provider would pay Freeport $450 per intercept.
City officials believe the agreement could expand regional ALS coverage while generating additional revenue.
Lift Assist Charges Also Increasing
The proposal would also amend the city's lift-assistance ordinance.
The hourly rate charged to nursing homes, hospitals, extended care facilities, and ambulance providers requesting assistance would increase from $145 per hour to $150 per hour.
The minimum half-hour charge would remain unchanged.
What Would Rates Be Today If City Hall Had Followed Its Own Ordinance?
One of the most overlooked details in the Fire Department's memo is that Freeport already had a mechanism in place to avoid large, sudden increases.
The ordinance authorized annual CPI-based increases of up to five percent per year. According to the Fire Department, those increases were never implemented. Had the City applied the maximum five percent increase each year beginning in 2023, rates today would look substantially different.
Resident Transport Fee
2022: $1,200.00
2023: $1,260.00
2024: $1,323.00
2025: $1,389.15
2026: $1,458.61
Non-Resident Transport Fee
2022: $1,700.00
2023: $1,785.00
2024: $1,874.25
2025: $1,967.96
2026: $2,066.36
Mileage Charge
2022: $14.00
2023: $14.70
2024: $15.44
2025: $16.21
2026: $17.02
Instead, City Hall is proposing:
$2,000 resident transports
$2,500 non-resident transports
$20 per loaded mile
In other words, residents are not simply being asked to absorb missed inflation adjustments.
They are being asked to pay substantially more than they would be paying today had the city consistently followed the policy already authorized by ordinance.
The Unanswered Question
Perhaps the most surprising statement in the proposal is what has not yet been calculated.
According to the memo, the city has not yet determined how much additional annual revenue the proposed increases are expected to generate.
That means council members are being asked to consider:
A 66.7% increase for resident transports,
A 47.1% increase for non-resident transports,
A 42.9% increase in mileage charges,
without a projection showing how much additional revenue those increases are expected to produce.
For some elected officials, that may become one of the most important questions raised during Monday's discussion.
What Happens Next?
The proposal is scheduled for discussion during the June 8, 2026 Committee of the Whole meeting.
No final vote is expected Monday evening. Any ordinance changes would still require approval by the City Council at a future meeting.
If approved, the new rates could take effect immediately or on a future date established by the Council.
F4F Chairman's Analysis | Joshua T. Atkinson
There is an uncomfortable question buried in this proposal that City Hall should be forced to answer:
Who failed to do their job?
According to the Fire Department's own memo, Freeport already had an ordinance in place allowing ambulance rates to increase annually based on inflation.
Those increases were never implemented.
That failure did not happen in a vacuum.
For the past several years, the City of Freeport has been governed by Mayor Jodi Miller, City Manager Rob Boyer, and the City Council. They were responsible for overseeing city operations, budgets, ordinances, and fee schedules. If annual adjustments were authorized and intended to keep rates current, then leadership failed to follow through.
Now residents are being presented with the consequences.
Instead of modest annual increases spread over multiple years, the city is proposing a single increase that would raise the resident ambulance transport fee from $1,200 to $2,000.
A staggering 66.7% increase.
The Miller Administration has either forgotten who already paid for those ambulances or simply does not care.
Freeport taxpayers purchased those ambulances. Freeport taxpayers fund the Fire Department. Freeport taxpayers fund City Hall.
And now Freeport taxpayers are once again being asked to pay more because City Hall failed to implement the gradual increases already available under its own ordinance.
Had the city applied the maximum allowable increase each year beginning in 2023, the resident transport fee today would be approximately $1,459—not $2,000.
That is a difference of more than $540 per transport. A single ambulance ride to the hospital—before a patient receives a single minute of medical treatment—could cost more than a month's rent, more than a month's groceries, more than a month's fuel to get to work, or more than a month's utility bill for many Freeport families.
The administration argues Freeport's rates are below regional averages. That may very well be true.
But before asking residents to absorb one of the largest fee increases in recent memory, City Hall should explain why the gradual increases already authorized by ordinance were never implemented in the first place.
Government's job is not merely to collect more money when problems arise.
Government's job is to manage responsibly enough that residents are not handed the bill for years of neglected policy decisions.
For more than nine years, Jodi Miller has served as Mayor of Freeport.
At some point, the excuses have to end.
At some point, every problem cannot continue to be blamed on previous administrations, previous councils, previous managers, or decisions made years ago.
Leadership means ownership.
The failure to implement these increases occurred under the Miller Administration.
Now residents are being asked to pay the price.
It is time to stop worrying about carnivals, concerts, and drone shows.
It is time to ensure the basic functions of government are being managed properly and that the City Manager is doing the job taxpayers hired him to do.
Freeport does not need a party planner.
Freeport needs a Mayor.