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The board that runs the Emergency Medical Services Authority approved a $400 increase in the price of an emergency transport in the Tulsa area Wednesday to help offset increased costs, including legal fees associated with defending the agency in a federal kickbacks lawsuit.

The Board of Trustees voted to increase the emergency ambulance transport fee 31 percent, taking it from $1,300 to $1,700, for the Eastern Division of EMSA’s jurisdiction.

The Eastern Division includes Tulsa and three suburbs.

The rate, to be effective Sept. 1, would have to be approved by the Tulsa City Council to become final.

The transport fee increase does not require the approval of city councils in the other member cities in the Eastern Division — Bixby, Jenks and Sand Springs, EMSA spokeswoman Kelli Bruer said.

The emergency transport rate will remain $1,300 in the Western Division, which includes Oklahoma City and suburbs.

EMSA typically reviews rates every four or five years, Bruer said. The last rate increase occurred in 2012.