THORNTON | The cost for ambulance response in Thornton is a bit pricier after trustees voted 4-2 Monday to raise the rates. 

The recommendations from Fire Chief Jerry Kuipers raise the ambulance response fees for residents and nonresidents by different amounts, depending on the service required.

-- Basic life support has increased $75 to $450 for residents and $550 for nonresidents.

-- Advance life support has increased $75 to $550 for residents and $650 for nonresidents.

Other related fees also were increased for residents and nonresidents.

-- Milage by $2 to $10.

-- Oxygen by $5 to $50.

-- IV therapy by $5 to $50.

Some fees remain the same, including EKG telemetry, $75; immobilization, $100; and extrication, $250.

Kuipers has said ambulance fees have been stable in Thornton since 2003, but health insurance providers now will cover higher fees.

Residents informally are charged only for the amount covered by insurance. That policy is called "no out-of-pocket expense," or NOPE.

Trustee Paul Tomasik voted against the rate increases. He said the NOPE policy is not stated openly to the public. Tomasik also alleged that the policy is not applied equally to all residents.  Even some out-of-town ambulance patients receive discounts, Tomasik said.

"There is in excess of $50,000 a year that's being written off, from what little data I can get," Tomasik said.

Tomasik said he was denied information about ambulance calls and the fees charged to different residents.

Village Administrator Jason Wicha denied Tomasik's claim.

The board voted against a proposal to charge property owners for fire responses. Kuipers had suggested new fees that start at $500 per fire engine for structure fires and $250 to respond to auto crashes.

"We only get a couple of fire calls a year," Trustee Judy Diekelman said. "It's not worth it to get people all worked up."