MOSES LAKE - A Moses Lake business owner was granted release from a hard-won contract to provide ambulance billing to the city.

Corbin Moberg requested his company, Omni Staffing Services, Inc., be relieved of its obligations under the EMS billing agreement entered into with Moses Lake four months ago following a lengthy debate about the importance of shopping local.

"In my opinion, while there remains a contract in place between the City of Moses Lake and Omni which extends until January of 2013, it would be in the city's best interest to relieve Omni of its obligations and enter into a new ambulance billing service contract with another entity," Moses Lake City Manager Joe Gavinski stated in a letter to council Tuesday.

With few words said, the council authorized city staff to terminate the contract with the Moses Lake firm and enter into a new contract with EF Recovery, LLC.

Councilwoman Karen Liebrecht asked if Omni has agreed to transfer the city's billing records to EF Recovery "in a timely manner" to allow the new provider to carry on billing with limited interruption.

"For the most part, (Omni) has taken every precaution to make sure that the transition runs smoothly," replied city Finance Director Robert Taylor. "We've had no issues with them in terms of receivables, collections and billing up until recently."

Moberg was not present at Tuesday's council meeting, but in a telephone interview on Wednesday he declined to explain his desire to opt out of the contract.

"We felt it was best for (the city) to use another vendor," he said; adding the decision was arrived at after several weeks of deliberation.

Moberg didn't reveal his reasoning to Moses Lake either, according to Moses Lake Fire Chief Tom Taylor, who said Wednesday the request took city officials by surprise.

"It was kind of out of the blue," he said. "(Moberg) stated that Omni no longer wished to do the ambulance billing for the city and would like to be released from the terms of the contract as soon as possible. That's all we know."

Robert Taylor said the city was fortunate to have EF Recovery waiting in the wings.

"They were our first choice to begin with, but the council decided it was important to go with a local company," he said.

The issue was first raised in a December council meeting that pitted some council members against each other and the wishes of city staff.

Staff recommended outsourcing ambulance billing services rather than hiring a replacement for their outgoing ambulance billing clerk, who retired at the end of 2011. The city received proposals from three ambulance billing companies, and Gig Harbor-based EF Recovery won staff's endorsement over Moses Lake-based Omni or Systems Design EMS, headquartered in Poulsbo.

The early preference for EF Recovery was based less on cost than experience, depth of staff and the difference in billing software used by the two companies, Tom Taylor said.

According to the contracts, Omni rates are about 50 cents lower than EF Recovery per call. The contract with EF Recovery also includes an additional $32.50 charge for all accounts turned over from the previous billing company.

Last year the council initially tabled the item to allow Moberg time to resubmit a more complete proposal to the city. When the issue was placed back on the agenda in January, the council ran up against an immovable split decision before casting a 4-3 vote in favor of hiring Omni at the end of a lengthy special meeting a few days later.

Council members Jason Avila, Dick Deane, David Curnel and Karen Liebrecht voted in favor of giving the contract to Omni.

The extensive discussion often cast the issue as a choice between supporting a local, capable company or upgrading the city's ambulance billing services with a more experienced firm.

Taylor and former Finance Director Ronald Cone argued EF Recovery was the clear choice, barring the "shop local" issue.

"That, to staff, we don't feel that that's an issue," Taylor said during a January meeting. "We feel that the greater, enhanced capability of the technology and greater efficiency should drive our decisions."

But Moberg and several supporters lobbied hard for Omni throughout the course of the discussion, saying the company would be just as adept as EF Recovery in meeting the city's needs.

In a letter given to council members at the time, Moberg stated his concerns about "attempts to move business away from our community while increasing fees to the remaining businesses."

Moberg also pointed to his long career in ambulance services and his work in helping the city set up their own ambulance service protocols in 2007.

"We know we can do this. We do it now," he said in January.

The city entered into the new contract with EF Recovery on Wednesday and requested Moberg meet with their representatives as quickly as possible to hand over data and patient care reports.