As a citizen of Prince William County of over 16 years, I am just curious about the fee for ambulance services. I know this issue came up several years ago and, like I did now, I inquired to several of the supervisors regarding the fact that the residents of PWC are already taxed an additional levy for these services. I am not sure of the exact amount we are assessed -- somewhere between .04 and .07 cents additional on top of the advertised tax rate. All of the other jurisdictions that charge this proposed ambulance fee do not have an additional and somewhat hidden fire levy. I have an acquaintance who is a member of a local BOS in an adjoining county and he was quite amused that PWC was looking to charge this new fee on top of the fire levy.
I am not an anti-tax radical and love PWC and think the supervisors do an excellent job managing our county in these difficult fiscal times; however, I in no way believe that even with the insurance companies "paying" these fees, that we citizens will not also feel it in our pocketbooks. I have been in law enforcement almost 29 years and on occasion it was necessary to call rescue for an on-duty injury. Even though this was on the job and in service to a county entity, because my employer's county charges the fee, officers were billed and then harassed for months trying to collect the $400 fee. This was done to a county employee by the county system -- what about your average Joe who gets hit with the $400 to $700 fee? There will be bill collectors calling and writing and being "bill collectors" so they can earn their commission. Don't believe otherwise -- they did it to several of my officer friends.
If the county really needs that small amount of money the fee will raise, why not simply raise our levy another 1/2 cent and "hide" it, since most residents of PWC have no idea they are paying it anyway -- and WHY do the supervisors advertise a flat rate yet add on 7 to 8 percent more? Mr. Stewart, I thought you ran on an anti-tax platform -- call it a fee but it's still a tax.
BOYD THOMPSON
Gainesville
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