[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Shamokin
as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 7-11-1994 by Ord. No. 369 (Ch. 53 of the 1967 Code)]
The Mayor of Shamokin or such official's designee is hereby
appointed as the designated officer who is authorized to carry out
all responsibilities and duties stated herein.
No insurance company, association or exchange (hereinafter the
"insuring agent") doing business in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
shall pay a claim of a named insured for fire damage to a structure
located within the City of Shamokin (hereinafter the "municipality")
where the amount recoverable for the fire loss to the structure under
all policies exceeds $5,000, unless the named insured or insuring
agent is furnished by the Municipal Treasurer with a municipal certificate
pursuant to Section 508(b) of Act 98 of 1992 and unless there is compliance with Section 508(c) and
(d) of Act 98 of 1992 and the provisions of this article.
A. Where pursuant to Section 508(b)(1)(i) of Act 98 of 1992, the Municipal Treasurer issues a certificate indicating
that there are no delinquent taxes, assessments, penalties or user
charges against real property, the insuring agent shall pay the claim
of the named insured; provided, however, that if the loss as agreed
upon by the named insured and the insuring agent equals or exceeds
60% of the aggregate limits of liability on all fire policies covering
the building restructure, the following procedures must be followed:
(1) The insuring agent shall transfer from the insurance proceeds to
the designated officer of the municipality in the aggregate sum of
$1,000 for each $20,000 of a claim and for each fraction of that amount
of a claim, this section to be applied such that, if the claim is
$20,000 or less, the amount transferred to the municipality shall
be $1,000.
(2) If, at the time of a proof of loss agreed to between the named insured
and the insuring agent, the named insured has submitted a contractor's
signed estimate of the costs of removing, repairing or securing the
building or other structure, the insuring agent shall transfer to
the municipality from the insurance proceeds the amount specified
in the estimate.
(3) The transfer of proceeds shall be on a pro rata basis by all companies,
associations or exchanges insuring the building or other structure.
(4) After the transfer, the named insured may submit a contractor's
signed estimate of the costs of removing, repairing or securing the
building or other structure, and the designated officer shall return
the amount of the funds transferred to the municipality in excess
of the estimate to the named insured if the municipality has not commenced
to remove, repair or secure the building or other structure.
(5) Upon receipt of proceeds under this section, the municipality shall
do the following:
(a)
The designated officer shall place the proceeds in a separate
fund to be used solely as security against the total costs of removing,
repairing or securing the building or structure which are incurred
by the municipality. Such costs shall include, without limitation,
any engineering, legal or administrative costs incurred by the municipality
in connection with such removal, repair or securing of the building
or any proceedings related thereto.
(b)
It is the obligation of the insuring agent when transferring
the proceeds to provide the municipality with the name and address
of the named insured. Upon receipt of the transferred funds and the
name and address of the named insured, the designated officer shall
contact the named insured, certify that the proceeds have been received
by the municipality and notify the named insured that the procedures
under this subsection shall be followed.
(c)
When repairs, removal or securing of the building or other structure
have been completed in accordance with all applicable regulations
and orders of the municipality and the required proof of such completion
received by the designated officer, and if the municipality has not
incurred any costs for repairs, removal or securing, the fund shall
be returned to the named insured. If the municipality has incurred
costs for repairs, removal or securing of the building or other structure,
the costs shall be paid from the fund, and if excess funds remain,
the municipality shall transfer the remaining funds to the named insured.
(d)
To the extent that interest is earned on proceeds held by the
municipality pursuant to this section, and not returned to the named
insured, such interest shall belong to the municipality. To the extent
that proceeds are returned to the named insured, interest earned on
such proceeds shall be distributed to the named insured at the time
that the proceeds are returned.
B. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the ability of
the municipality to recover any deficiency. Furthermore, nothing in
this section shall be construed to prohibit the municipality and the
named insured from entering into an agreement that permits the transfer
of funds to the named insured if some other reasonable disposition
of the damaged property has been negotiated.
The Council of the City of Shamokin may by resolution adopt
procedures and regulations to implement Act 98 of 1992 and this article and may by resolution fix reasonable
fees to be charged for municipal activities or services provided pursuant
to Act 98 of 1992 and this article, including but not limited to issuance
of certificates and bills, performance of inspections and opening
separate fund accounts.
Any owner of property, any named insured or any insuring agent
who violates this article shall be subject to a penalty of up to $1,000
per violation.
The provisions of this article shall be severable, and if any
of the provisions hereof shall be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining
provisions of this article shall remain in effect.
All ordinances or parts of ordinances conflicting with any of
the provisions of this article are hereby repealed insofar as the
same affects this article.
This article shall become effective immediately.
[Adopted 6-14-2010 by Ord. No. 10-03]
This article shall be referred to as the "City of Shamokin Fire/Emergency
Services Billing Ordinance."
The City Council of the City of Shamokin wishes to provide for
reimbursement to the Fire Bureau of the City of Shamokin for any and
all costs and/or expenses incurred by the Fire Bureau in providing
fire and emergency services to property owners which may be obtainable
by the Fire Bureau by submitting claims only the individual property
owners' insurance carriers.
The Shamokin City Fire Bureau is hereby authorized, by and through
the Fire Chief or his designee, which may include a third-party billing
agency, to ascertain what insurance coverages may be applicable and
available under any given circumstance, and to take all necessary
and affirmative steps to apply for and receive reimbursement from
any insurance carriers were a property owner is or may be insured,
to reimburse the Fire Bureau for any costs and/or expenses incurred
for services, supplies and/or equipment provided to the property owner
by the Fire Bureau.
Under no circumstances shall any property owner ever receive
a bill from the Fire Bureau for fire protection or other services
provided by the Fire Bureau, except in cases of false alarms and fires
intentionally set by the property owner.
All funds received pursuant to this article shall be deposited
in the Fire Bureau treasury.
The Fire Chief shall forward to City Council, by the 10th day
of each month, a report of itemizing all amounts billed and all funds
actually received during the preceding calendar month. This report
shall also include an itemization of the expenditure of the funds
received pursuant to this article.
This article shall be liberally construed to accomplish its
purpose to reimburse the Fire Bureau of the City of Shamokin, from
insurance proceeds, for costs and expenses incurred while providing
fire and emergency services to the citizens of the City of Shamokin.
This article shall take effect immediately upon its final passage.
Any ordinance, or parts of any ordinance, inconsistent herewith
are hereby repealed.