Residents and businesses across five North Hills communities could see changes to their annual EMS fees. Ross/West View EMS is proposing revisions to its residential and business fee structure, which would require municipal approval before taking effect.
The fee increase was detailed in reporting by TribLIVE.com, which covers the five municipalities served by Ross/West View EMS: Ross Township, West View Borough, Reserve Township, Millvale Borough and Ohio Township. The agency itself describes its coverage area the same way, saying on its own site that it is “proudly serving the communities of Ross Township, West View Borough, Millvale Borough, Reserve Township, and Ohio Township,” according to Ross/West View EMS.
All five municipalities must approve the new fees before they take effect. Municipal officials in Millvale, Ross and Reserve are considering the proposal.
Why the Agency Says It Needs More Money
Steve Kline was the authority's assistant director in March 2025. Ross/West View EMS has described facing financial difficulties.
The authority says its costs are rising, including personnel and equipment expenses, and it has faced a gap between service costs and payments collected.
Personnel costs are among the financial pressures facing the authority. The authority's levy page says the existing $55 fee could generate $1.8 million annually if everyone pays in full.
How the Business Fee Would Change
Under the current system, businesses are charged according to a small-or-large size scale. The proposal would revise that approach.
The levy page also lays out what the shift means for the broader budget: $330,000 in subscription revenue would disappear once the new fee structure replaces it, according to Ross/West View EMS, while municipalities could eventually eliminate and repurpose $335,000 in existing EMS funding once fee collection is established and flowing. The fee is collected for the calendar year running Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, and the authority says a property is exempt only if a municipal code enforcement officer classifies it as uninhabitable.
What Happens If Residents Don't Pay
Nonpayment carries real consequences under the authority's existing levy terms. The agency's levy page states that failing to pay can lead to late fees, responsibility for a full ambulance bill if EMS is used, and eventually property liens if required under the ordinance, per Ross/West View EMS. In exchange, residents and business owners or employees who do pay are eligible for a 100% write-off of out-of-pocket emergency ambulance expenses not covered by insurance, according to the authority's materials.
In March 2025, a town hall had been suggested but was not yet scheduled. Board minutes from a meeting on March 18, 2025, show the authority had collected $550,156 in fees year-to-date at that point and that all five districts had already approved the underlying fee ordinance resolution, according to Ross/West View EMS Authority board minutes. The same minutes show the agency had more than $2.5 million in grant applications pending, with only about $79,000 awarded at the time.
A Statewide Squeeze on Ambulance Services
Ross/West View's predicament fits a pattern playing out across Pennsylvania, where insurance payments routinely fall short of covering the actual cost of ambulance runs. As Spotlight PA has reported, that gap is why providers increasingly ask communities to help pay, and some Pennsylvania ambulance companies have already folded or scaled back coverage areas trying to stay solvent. Under state law, municipalities are only required to ensure EMS is available — not to actually fund it.```That dynamic has pushed other Pennsylvania communities toward new funding mechanisms of their own. In Berks County, roughly 30 communities already pay EMS providers annual membership fees ranging from $100,000 to $250,000, Spotlight PA's reporting shows, with Wyomissing establishing its own membership fee with Western Berks Ambulance Association in 2024 and Leesport proposing a 0.5-mill property tax in its 2026 budget. In Lancaster County, a newly formed regional municipal authority began providing 911 ambulance service to six municipalities in February 2024 after Northwest EMS faced insolvency, according to PennLive, replacing voluntary support with a mandatory annual fee charged to property owners and employers alike.
