City of Sunbury, PA Chapter 86 Fire Department Cost Recovery

[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Sunbury 7-9-2018. Amendments noted where applicable.]

§ 86-1 Intent and purpose.

It is the intent and purpose of this chapter to adopt a Sunbury Fire Department Cost Recovery/Reimbursement Code, to authorize the Sunbury Fire Department to seek recovery/reimbursement of costs, as allowed under the applicable law, relative to the use of specialized equipment and materials (including, but not limited to, emergency rescue tools, hazardous material abatement tools and/or materials, and fire suppression tools and/or materials) on all emergency scenes, both within the City of Sunbury and in outlying response areas as contracted by various municipalities.

§ 86-2 Adoption of standards; copies on file.

[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]

In accordance with the authority granted the City of Sunbury by the Third Class City Code of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (11 Pa.C.S.A. § 10101 et seq.), there is hereby adopted by the Council of the City of Sunbury, for the purposes set forth in § 86-1, that certain code, to be known as the "Sunbury Fire Department Cost Recovery/Reimbursement Code." The provisions of the aforementioned code, as supplemented, are set forth in those three copies which are presently on file in the office of the City Clerk and are hereby adopted as fully as if set forth at length herein. From the date on which this chapter shall take effect, the provisions thereof shall be controlling relative to the Sunbury Fire Department, except as modified by this chapter and any subsequent amendments thereto.

§ 86-3 Recovery of costs.

A. The Sunbury Fire Department shall hereby be authorized to seek and recover reasonable costs for the use (relative to hazardous material, environmental, fire safety, and/or rescue incidents and operations, including, but not limited to, vehicular accidents and fires) of its apparatus; emergency rescue tools; equipment and materials; hazardous materials abatement tools, equipment and materials; fire suppression tools, equipment, and materials.

B. A rate schedule of reasonable costs for the aforementioned tools, equipment, and/or materials shall be set forth by the Sunbury Fire Department and reviewed/updated periodically and shall only be applied to the recovery/reimbursement of costs arising out of incidents that occur subsequent to the setting of the rate schedule. A copy of the rate schedule shall at all times be available and on file at the Code office for review.

C. The reasonable costs, as outlined above, may be recovered from any identified insurance carrier or, if there is no insurance coverage relative to said costs, or landowner, be it an individual or business, directly by the Sunbury Fire Department, or through a third-party billing service contracted by the Sunbury Fire Department on its behalf to collect said costs. In addition to the reasonable costs to be recovered by and through the above-referenced rate schedule, the Sunbury Fire Department or third-party billing service shall be authorized to collect reasonable interest, legal, collection, and/or administrative fees, in addition to costs.

§ 86-4 Requirement to pay for costs.

[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]

The Sunbury Fire Department shall not be obligated to pursue collection efforts against any insurance company, individual, or business. Said efforts may be applied on a case-by-case basis determined by the reasonable assessment of the probable success, including financial success, of said collection efforts.

§ 86-5 Emergency services not to be refused.

There shall be no refusal or delay in emergency services from the Sunbury Fire Department, or its personnel, due to the lack of insurance coverage or the inability to pay for cost recovery.