(A) (1) The City of Butler WFST Fire Department is authorized to seek reimbursement for fire, safety, and rescue responses, hazardous material and environmental incidents as specified in the ESRV by statute as follows:
(a) For initial response with a fire engine, a fire truck, or a fire apparatus, including a hazardous material response unit, or a fire rescue unit dispatched on a fire or hazardous material incident.
(b) For each hour or fraction thereof as on-scene assistance.
(c) For expendable materials such as absorption materials, emulsifiers, or other agents used in cleanup operations, the actual replacement cost of those materials.
(d) For collection of debris, chemicals, fuel, or contaminated materials resulting from a spill, the actual cost of removal and disposal at an authorized location.
(2) It is recognized that the duties of fire companies require specialized fire/safety/emergency/rescue/environmental/ hazardous material, tools, equipment, materials, supplies and specialized training in order to provide for the safety of the public served. Such requirements, as well as the response to emergency situations involving, and/or caused by, non-resident individuals, places a tremendous financial burden on said fire companies and the communities that support them. While taxes, if applicable, may provide the fire companies sufficient financial assistance to exist, in an effort to avoid ever-increasing tax burdens on the residents of the City of Butler and surrounding townships, it is determined that emergency service cost reimbursement (i.e., response billing) should be authorized in order to defray the cost of services provided.
(3) To grant the City of Butler WFST Volunteer Fire Department or any successor company operating in the City of Butler or surrounding townships the authority to seek reimbursement for all reasonable costs of responding to such incidents, as well as all reasonable costs to recoup such costs for apparatus, materials, equipment, tools, and personnel, as well the ability of its billing agent to collect administrative fees based upon their calculated percentage of fees.
(B) Recovery of costs.
(1) (a) Fire departments are authorized to recover the reasonable costs of the use of emergency fire and/or rescue (including, but not limited to, vehicle accidents) personnel hours, tools, equipment, materials and vehicles; hazardous material and/or environmental response personnel hours, tools, equipment, materials and vehicles; and reasonable interest on any amount due from the date of the response forward. Additionally, fire departments are authorized to collect a reasonable flat-rate fee for any false alarm responses or fire drill responses for which the fire department did not receive at least 48 hours prior notice.
(b) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted as limiting any amounts fire departments are authorized to collect under any applicable state statute or law.
(2) The reasonable costs authorized to be billed for under this section may be recovered directly by the Fire Department or through a third party billing service as an authorized agent for the collection of such costs.
(3) The reimbursement rates for the aforementioned costs shall be set by the billing company.
(4) If a third party billing service is utilized, said third party billing service shall be authorized to charge a service charge in addition to the costs it is recovering for the Fire Department. Said service charge will be set by the third party billing service.
(5) All funds recovered under this section, and due to the Fire Department, shall be remitted directly to the Fire Department by either the responsible party or, if a third party billing service is utilized, by said third party billing service. All funds recovered under this section shall be exclusively used for the support of the Fire Department.
(6) The Fire Department or third party billing service shall only have the authority to recover the costs authorized under this section from the applicable insurance company/carrier of the party responsible for the costs authorized to be billed for under this section. In the event that collection costs and/or attorney's fees are incurred by the Fire Department or third party billing service as a result of the efforts required to obtain full reimbursement for the costs billed for under this section, said collection costs and/or attorney's fees may be recovered by the Fire Department or third parry billing service from the applicable insurance company/carrier of the parry responsible for the costs authorized to be billed for under this section.
(C) All monies recovered by the City of Butler WFST Fire Department for services provided shall be remitted or paid to the Clerk-Treasurer for the City of Butler.
(D) The Fire Chief or his designee shall be responsible for collection of all recovered monies and doing all necessary paperwork for the recovery of said sums and transmitting said funds to the Clerk-Treasurer.
(E) All such monies that are recovered for services rendered by the City of Butler WFST Fire Department shall be deposited in the Fire Cost Recovery and Reimbursement Fund and dispersed or used for Fire Department purposes as authorized by the Butler City Council.
(F) There is hereby established a Recovery and Reimbursement Account as an income line in Fire Cost Recovery Fund. The account number is 271.0.00.39600.
(Ord. 1517, passed 12-7-09)