[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township
of Harborcreek 12-17-2014 by Ord.
No. 2014-213. Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be called the "Emergency Services Costs Recovery
Ordinance."
The Board of Supervisors recognizes that volunteer fire companies
incur costs, consume materials, expend resources, and otherwise use
up materials, goods, and products that must be replaced at substantial
cost to the fire companies in the course of handling, responding to,
and rendering services during emergencies that occur within the Township
and even beyond the boundaries of the Township when providing mutual
aid to adjacent communities. Those costs, when fair and reasonable,
need to be recovered in order for the volunteer fire companies to
remain viable. The fire companies need the legal authority of an ordinance
approving the recovery of those costs.
For purposes of this chapter, the following words shall have
the following meaning:
An event triggering a response from a volunteer fire company(ies)
other than an ambulance response. Emergencies could include, but are
not limited to, events requiring firefighting, extractions, or like
services. Fire service calls, false alarms, nuisance alarms, hazardous
material incidents, environmental incidents, and safety and rescue
incidents coordinated via the emergency management coordinator and/or
911, and those that use hazardous material abatement equipment and
materials are also eligible for reimbursement.
Any service provided by the volunteer fire company(ies) other
than an ambulance response.
Any of the three volunteer fire companies serving the needs
of the citizens of Harborcreek Township including Fairfield Fire Company,
Brookside Fire Department and Harborcreek Fire Department. When used
in this chapter, the phrase "fire company" shall also include any
fire company chartered other than in Harborcreek Township which provides
mutual aid for an emergency within the Township.
An amount charged by other emergency responders similarly
situated as the three volunteer fire companies serving the citizens
of Harborcreek Township, but not to include personnel costs given
the voluntary nature of the participation in volunteer fire companies.
Said charges would also have to be itemized when the bill is presented
for payment.
Refers to Harborcreek Township.
Any volunteer fire company offering emergency services shall
be entitled to recover the fair and reasonable costs of responding.
Some of these costs can be standardized and are set forth below:[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: The Schedule of Fees is included as an attachment to this chapter.
A.
False and/or nuisance alarms are deemed to be a waste of time, manpower,
and equipment and create the potential for serious injury to fire
company personnel and other responding emergency personnel. "False
alarm" means the activation of any alarm system which results in a
response by the fire company and which is caused by the negligence
or intentional misuse of the alarm system by the owner, its employees,
agents or any other activation of an alarm system not caused by heat,
smoke or fire, exclusive of a nuisance alarm. "Nuisance alarm" means
the activation of any alarm system which results in a response by
the fire company caused by mechanical failure, malfunction, improper
installation, lack of proper maintenance or any other response for
which the fire company is unable to determine the apparent cause of
the alarm activation. Alarm activations caused by earthquakes, severe
weather, or power outages are not considered false or nuisance alarms.
B.
No fee shall be assessed for the first three false alarms at the
same premises responded to by the fire company during any 12 consecutive
months. Thereafter, the owner shall pay the following fees for false
alarms or nuisance alarms responded to by the fire company at the
same premises during any 12 consecutive months:
|
Number of False Alarm/Nuisance Alarms
|
Service Fee
|
|---|---|
|
First to third
|
$0
|
|
Fourth
|
$100
|
|
Fifth
|
$200
|
|
Sixth and above
|
Doubles each time
|
A.
Harborcreek Township recognizes the need to bill for volunteer fire,
rescue and hazmat services conducted within the Township to aid in
the provision of emergency services.
B.
No person, firm, corporation requiring emergency services shall be
denied services due to lack of insurance or ability to pay.
C.
Any applicable charges for volunteer emergency services rendered
shall be billed directly to the user of such services or user's
insurance company.
D.
Any of the three authorized and enfranchised volunteer fire companies
operating in Harborcreek Township may, either directly or through
any third-party billing agency with which it has contracted for billing
and/or collections for volunteer fire, rescue and hazmat services,
make arrangements with users of such services and/or their financially
responsible party for installment payment of bills.
A.
Any of the fire departments authorized and enfranchised to operate
in Harborcreek Township are hereby authorized to enter into a contract
with a third-party billing agency and/or collection agency for performance
of emergency, rescue and hazmat services billing and/or collection
services.
B.
The Township and/or any recognized fire department may, in its discretion,
bill additionally for material and vehicle costs in the case of major,
extraordinary or unique incidents, including but not limited to hazardous
materials spills, fire emergency, and rescue incidents that destroy
or severely damage emergency services equipment.
C.
User fees.
(1)
Volunteer fire and rescue services shall initiate user fees for the
delivery of emergency services, supplies and equipment to the scene
of any hazardous material incident, environmental incident or safety
and rescue incident or operation, including vehicular accidents and
fires that occur on the roadways of the Township. The rate of the
user fee shall be that which is usual, customary and reasonable in
accordance with standard practice and industry standards.
(2)
Every person and/or utility that is provided with volunteer emergency,
rescue and hazmat services shall be billed a user fee in accordance
with this chapter.
(3)
The user fee for volunteer emergency services rendered shall be billed
directly to the user of such service's insurance company. If
the insurance company is not known, the user of services shall be
billed directly, with instructions to forward the bill to his/her
insurance provider.
(4)
Any and all amounts collected as the result of this chapter shall
be used for the replacement and maintenance of emergency services
materials and equipment.
(5)
The Township reserves the right to implement rules and/or regulations
and/or revoke or amend existing rules and/or regulations as may be
deemed necessary for the billing and/or collection of user fees pursuant
to this chapter.
D.
Uncollectible amounts.
(1)
The user fee is anticipated to be paid by the user's insurance
company. In the instance where the Township receives official notification
from the insurance company that it will not honor the invoice, the
Township and/or authorized fire departments are authorized to invoice
the responsible party directly and take any legal action necessary
to collect the fee(s), including negotiating a settlement.
(2)
The Township and/or authorized fire department may, at its discretion,
write off the uncollected fee amounts as a bad debt, without the prejudice
to the responsible party.
(3)
Should the Township and/or any authorized fire department determine
that an insurance carrier has remitted the fee to the responsible
party involved and that the party has failed to remit the fee, the
Township and/or authorized fire department are authorized to pursue
all legal means and appropriate action in order to collect the account.
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to affect any suit
or proceeding pending in any court, or any rights acquired or liability
incurred, or any cause of action acquired or existing, under any act
or ordinance hereby, nor shall any just or legal right or remedy of
any character be lost, impaired or affected by this chapter.
All ordinances or parts of ordinances which are inconsistent
herewith are hereby repealed.
If any sentence, clause, section, or part of this chapter is
for any reason found to be unconstitutional, illegal, or invalid,
such unconstitutionality, illegality or invalidity shall not affect
or impair any of the remaining provisions, sentences, clauses, sections
or parts of this chapter. It is hereby declared as the intent of the
Board of Supervisors that this chapter would have been adopted had
such unconstitutional, illegal or invalid sentence, clause, section
or part thereof not been included herein.
This chapter shall become effective five days after passage.
