Item 19 - Early Direction for the Fiscal Year 2024-25 Budget (continued from the meeting on 3-19-2024)

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Early Direction for the Fiscal Year 2024-25 Budget April 2, 2024 Page 5 4 1 5 8 higher reimbursement rates for Medicare and Medi-Cal transports, which comprise three-quarters of the ambulance transports in Santa Ana. The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) developed the Public Provider Ground Emergency Medical Transport (PP-GEMT) Intergovernmental Transfer Program (IGT) program to provide increased reimbursements, by application of an add- on increase, to emergency medical transports provided by eligible public GEMT providers. The program became effective on January 1, 2023 and requires an overall level of participation from local agencies in the form of discretionary contributions to fund a portion of the increased reimbursements. Based on the latest information we have, this new program has nearly doubled the revenue to the City; yet the City is the only remaining large agency in the state that has not paid the PP-GEMT contribution, estimated to be $2.9 million annually. The City’s consultant AP Triton is working to complete an Emergency Medical Services Transportation and Optimization Study. The Study includes recommendations to increase and establish fees to be reimbursed by PP-GEMT and insurance companies. In addition, it may be beneficial for the City to have an ongoing consultant arrangement to help manage the ambulance contract and maximize transport reimbursements. If staff pursued these fee recommendations, revenue may exceed $13 million (current estimate is $10 million). The increased revenue could be used to pay for the PP-GEMT contribution and consulting assistance. Shall staff pursue the fee increases recommended by AP Triton and include allocations for the PP-GEMT contribution and consulting assistance in the FY 2024-25 budget, offset by increased revenue? Parking Validations The City Clerk provides parking validations for all who attend City Council meetings and park in the Civic Center garage. The cost of providing these parking validations is approximately $27,500 annually, which is not budgeted. To date, the cost has been absorbed with other budgetary savings. Shall staff continue to provide parking validations and include the cost in the proposed FY 2024-25 budget? Parking Enforcement Program In addition to Parking Control Officers, the Parking Enforcement program utilizes services from two different contractors: Data Ticket and LAZ Parking California. These contracted services help the City generate $4.9 million of annual parking fine revenue with a current year Parking Enforcement program budget of approximately $3 million. The current year budget allocated for Data Ticket automated parking citation and processing services is $368,200 based on the original agreement approved in February