City manager Troy Schulte and finance chair Jan Marcason said signing up with
Advanced Data Processing Inc., a company that already does billing for several cities in the metro, would save $800,000 and increase collections.
“For the taxpayers and for the city this is a good deal and I think we should approve it today,” Marcason told her council colleagues.
Frequent Ambulance Service advocate John Sharp disagreed. Sharp said costs were only one side of the equation, and the contract submitted did not guarantee the company would collect as many dollars as the city employees now do.
Three council members sided with Sharp. Six agreed with finance chair Marcason.
Sixteen of the city billing clerks will be offered positions with the billing company. The rest will be re-trained and reassigned.