Ambulance service is something most people hope they never have to use, but as Dallas County Emergency Medical Services Director Mike Thomason explains, it’s something you want to function effectively if you ever need it.

Dallas County EMS recently increased their ambulance fees, which Thomason says was to put more of the cost of running the service onto the people who use it. “You want to have a good quality service out there. So what you’re looking at is how much do you want to pay for that as a taxpayer just to have availability? But then also those that are using the system, you’ve got to make sure that that they’re paying their fair share as well and it’s not a burden on the taxpayer. So it’s a balancing act between those two situations, where we say, ‘How much should the taxpayer pay, and how much should the end user pay?’ We boosted our fees to make the end user pay a little bit more. I believe that’s a fair balance, but there’s still is a burden on the taxpayers just to have us in this community.”

Previously, Dallas County EMS charged $635 for Basic Life Support (BLS), $735 for Advanced Life Support (ALS), and $13 per mile for mileage. With the increase, BLS is now $735, ALS is $970, and mileage is $18 per mile. Additionally, Non-resident BLS and ALS were raised to $835 and $1,020, respectively. Thomason says that difference reflects the fact that non-residents aren’t paying taxes in the County to support the EMS Department.

The new ambulance fees are now in effect, following approval from the Dallas County Board of Supervisors.