BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — American Medical Response, the ambulance service for the City of Buffalo, has not been paying an annual franchise fee since the company's contract expired in 2020.
Fillmore District Council member Mitch Nowakowski said he found that the franchise fee was not in this year's budget and that the city lost out on about $2.3 million over the past four years.
"It's gravely concerning, especially when we're scrutinizing revenue and expenses," he said. "Just like Spectrum has to pay their franchise fee to operate within our municipality, so does AMR, and I don't believe that it's something that's archaic or arcane that they shouldn't be paying to operate within the city."
7 News spoke to AMR's regional director Timothy Frost last month about the fees.
"The concept of franchise fees, in which we don't support is one conversation. What I can say, though, is that the cost of operating any business has exponentially gone up since 2020," Frost said.
I've also learned that according to the city's charter, there should be an Emergency Medical Services Board that meets monthly.
Mayor Byron Brown appoints board members.
Nowakowski tells me he believes the last time the board met was in 2017.
"This is oftentimes the board that holds AMR and our emergency officials accountable, and it shows transparency with response times," Nowakowski said.
Last month, the 7 News I-Team obtained a letter sent to AMR, by Buffalo Common Councilman Mitch Nowakowski, explaining some people in his district have been left "without proper care for over an hour or no service at all."
Council members raised concerns last month over long response times and operating without a contract.
"It took five hours to get an ambulance after her mother had a heart attack assuming that is true that is certainly unacceptable," Delaware District Council member Joel Feroleto said.
I asked a city spokesperson about this and received the following statement:
Negotiations with AMR remain ongoing as they continue to operate under their existing emergency services agreement on a month to month basis.
It is our understanding that discussions between BFD and AMR stalled while BFD evaluated AMR's proposal of in lieu services for the franchise fee for any contract moving forward. Additionally, BFD was considering issuance of a new RFP. However, the franchise fee remains owing as they are operating under the terms of the 2015 agreement for which no in lieu services were contemplated.
AMR sent the following statement:
The annual fee was a contractual requirement in the legacy agreement with the City of Buffalo that ended when the contract expired in September 2020.
American Medical Response (AMR) has been consistently transparent that we would not enter into a new agreement with the City of Buffalo that imposed an annual fee, as we are working hard daily to address not only first responder shortages but also inflationary pressures including increased costs for supplies, fuel, etc.
Instead of an annual fee, which is now a rare and outdated practice that takes money away from EMS improvements, AMR has proposed a series of service enhancements to improve care locally, like our award-winning Earn While You Learn program and propriety Nurse Navigation program. Based on our observations throughout the country, the funding of these service enhancements creates a greater impact to improving the local EMS system.
