City of Butler, PA Emergency Services Cost Recovery Fees

Findings. The City of Butler recognizes that the duties of the Butler Fire Department require the use of specialized emergency rescue tools and equipment, emergency rescue materials, hazardous material abatement equipment, and hazardous abatement materials and fire suppression tools and equipment during its emergency responses. The City of Butler also recognizes that the costs of the maintenance and replacement of this equipment added to the replacement costs of damaged or expended materials places an increasing financial burden on the City of Butler.

City Council intent. This chapter is intended to grant the City of Butler the authority to seek recovery of all reasonable costs of responding to such emergency incidents, as allowed by applicable law.

§ 135-3 Recovery of costs.

The City of Butler Fire Department is hereby authorized to recover reasonable costs for the use of emergency rescue tools, equipment and materials; hazardous material abatement tools and equipment, hazardous abatement materials, fire suppression tools and equipment; and personnel hours involving any hazardous material, environmental, fire safety, and/or rescue incident or operation, including vehicular accidents and fires.

A rate schedule of reasonable costs (§ 135-5), for the aforementioned tools, equipment, materials and hourly rates for personnel, shall be set forth by the Butler Fire Department and reviewed/updated from time to time, and shall only be applied to the recovery of costs arising out of incidents that occurred subsequent to the setting of the rate schedule. A copy of the rate schedule shall be on file for review at the business offices of Butler City.

The reasonable costs outlined above may be recovered from any identified insurance carrier or person or persons, directly by the City or by an attorney, or through a third-party billing service acting as a contracted authorized agent for the collection of such costs. In addition to the reasonable costs as set forth in the above-mentioned rate schedule, the City, attorney, or the third-party billing service shall hereby be authorized to collect, in addition to the reasonable costs, reasonable interest, legal, administrative and any other collection fees associated with collecting the said costs and fees.

In the event that any insurance carrier or person or persons should fail to pay any bill or invoice within 30 days of the mailing or delivery of such notice of charges, the City, attorney or the third-party billing agency who mailed or delivered the bill or invoice may enforce the provisions of this chapter by turning over to a third-party collection agency or, if deemed appropriate, may be enforced by filing a civil action at law in a court of competent jurisdiction for the collection of any amounts due to the City, together with statutory interest, court costs, collection fees and associated reasonable attorneys' fees.

§ 135-4 Requirements to pay for reasonable costs.

Any insurance carrier or person shall be liable for the reimbursement of reasonable costs incurred by the City, as outlined in this chapter, unless that person has paid to the City of Butler a tax which funds, at least in part, the services which the City of Butler Fire Department provides. Individuals who intentionally set fires and motor vehicle accidents in which the fault drivers are found to be driving under the influence will not be omitted by the above.

The City shall not be obligated to pursue collection efforts against any insurance company or person in the event that the City reasonably determines that collection efforts will not be successful or that the costs of collections will exceed the amount due hereunder.

§ 135-5 Rate schedule.

Apparatus.

	Type of Apparatus	Fee
	Engine	$350 per hour
	Aerial/ladder	$400 per hour
	Rescue	$300 per hour
	Squad/utility/support	$150 per hour

Equipment/service.

Type of Equipment/Service		Fee
SCBA		$50 each
Hose (per 50 feet)		$25
Gas/Co detector		$50 per use
Extinguisher (any class)		$50 per use
Personnel hours		$30 per hour per member
Hand tools		$15 each
Hydraulic rescue tools		$200 each
Scene lighting		$75 per hour
Oil-absorbent sheets		$10 each
Portable pumps		$30 per hour
Power tools		$50 each
Road closing/traffic control		$100 per hour
Salvage covers		$35 each
Debris cleanup/removal		$250
Flares		$8 each
Ventilation fans		$50 each
IR camera		$100 each
Foam		$60 per gallon
Cribbing
	Passenger	$100 each
	Class B	$200 each
	Trucks: Class A	$500 each
Stabilization struts		$50 per use
Latex gloves		$2 per pair
Ladders		$35 per use
Medical extrication (w/ hydraulics)		$1,500 per patient
Generator		$50 per hour
Hand lights		$5 per use
Fire line tape		$0.25 per foot

§ 135-6 Emergency services not to be refused for lack of insurance or ability to pay.

Nothing in this chapter shall authorize any City bureau or department or City staff member or bureau or department personnel to refuse or delay any rescue service to any person, firm, organization or corporation, due to the lack of insurance coverage or ability to pay for said rescue services.

§ 135-7 Severability.

The provisions of this chapter are severable. If any part of this chapter is declared to be unconstitutional, illegal or invalid, the validity of the remaining provisions shall be unaffected thereby. It is the intention of the Council of the City of Butler that this chapter would have been adopted had such unconstitutional, illegal or invalid part not been included.

§ 135-8 Repealer.

All ordinances, including current Chapter 135 of the Codified Ordinances of the City of Butler, or parts of ordinances inconsistent herewith, be and the same are hereby repealed. This chapter is intended to repeal and replace current Chapter 135 of the Codified Ordinances of the City of Butler. All ordinances not specifically amended hereby remain in full force and effect.