From the St. Paul Pioneer Press: Contract negotiations over the South Metro Fire Department's ambulance transportation have hit a snag.

HealthEast holds the primary service license for the area but has allowed South Metro to perform basic life-support transports under a subcontract that expires Dec. 31. If a contract is not renewed, all ambulance transports will fall entirely to HealthEast.

Under the HealthEast contract proposal, South Metro would not collect the transport fees from patients it carries, as the department does now. Instead, HealthEast would pay South Metro a flat fee of $236 for each.

South Metro currently collects an average of $650 per transport, or approximately $330,000 each year. That annual revenue would decrease $172,000 under the new proposal.

The South Metro Fire Board will hold a special meeting Nov. 3 to discuss the proposed two-year contract.