(a) Establishment.
(1) The Safety Service Director, in conjunction with the Fire & EMS Chief, shall establish and publish user fees for fire services, emergency medical services (EMS) and/or ambulance services provided by the Fire & EMS Division. The Safety Service Director shall periodically review and adjust such fees to reflect any rate changes or increases in cost,
(2) The rate of the user fee for fire services may include the costs of any services, personnel, supplies, and equipment the Fire & EMS Division incurs in responding to the call for service.
(3) All user fees for EMS and/or ambulance services shall be comparable to the usual, customary, and reasonable (UCR) fee schedule as may be established from time-to-time by either a State or Federal agency, or by an insurance trade association as may be recognized or otherwise authorized by law to establish such UCR fee schedule.
(4) User fees may also be established for hazmat situations, refusal of treatment, false alarm calls, fire inspections, or any other service provided by the Division of Fire & EMS for which the Safety Service Director, in conjunction with the Fire & EMS Chief, find reasonable and necessary.
(b) Billing. The Safety Service Director, in conjunction with the Fire & EMS Chief, shall develop billing and collection procedures for the established user fees. The City may enter into an agreement with a billing and/or collection agency or third-party administrator to implement the billing and collection of the user fees. The user fees may be charged to and billed to:
(1) The person being treated, attended to, or rescued by Fire & EMS Division personnel, or the person who may be responsible for such person being treated, attended or rescued, or the insurance carrier of said person;
(2) The owner of the motor vehicle for which spills or debris around the vehicle are cleaned up, fires are extinguished, or the site of the accident around the vehicle is secured, or the insurance carrier of said owner; and/or
(3) The owner of property requiring the control or extinguishment of fires and other emergency services as provided by Fire Division personnel, or the insurance carrier of said owner. When the user fee is billed to the insurance carrier, it shall be considered an add-on cost of the individual's, persons' or company's claim for damages of the vehicles, property and/or for injuries.
(c) Mutual Aid. When EMS services are provided by the Fire & EMS Division to persons outside the City's limits pursuant to a mutual aid agreement, the City's established user fee may be charged to the person receiving such services in accordance with the City's billing procedures, unless otherwise provided in the mutual aid agreement. When EMS services are provided within the City's limits by another entity pursuant to a mutual aid agreement, the entity may charge the person receiving such services its established user fee in accordance with that entity's billing practices, unless otherwise provided in the mutual aid agreement.
(d) Authority of the Safety Service Director. The Safety Service Director shall have the following authority in administering the user fees and billing and collection of the same under this section:
(1) To make all final determinations in the event of a disagreement or disputed charge;
(2) To waive the user fee or any portion thereof where he finds and determines that the person who received the services is indigent or otherwise unable to pay for such services and there is no other source for the payment thereof.
(e) Revenue. All amounts collected by or for the user fees established under the authority of this section shall be placed into a separate line item in the Fire & EMS Levy Fund to be used for personnel, supplies, and equipment for the Fire & EMS Division.
(f) Definitions. As used in this section:
(1) “Ambulance services” include, but are not limited to, transports of patients from nursing homes to a hospital or other medical facility.
(2) “Emergency medical services (EMS)” means any of the services described in Ohio R.C. 4765.35, 4765.37, 4764.38 and 4765,39 that are performed by the Division of Fire & EMS, and includes such services performed before or during any transport of a patient, including transports between hospitals and transports to and from helicopters.
(3) “Fire services” include, but are not limited to, extinguishment of fires, extrication of entrapped individuals, cleaning of spills and debris, structure fires, and other services which may be needed at the scene of a motor vehicle accidents, vehicle fires, structure fires, or other emergency scenes.
(Ord. 138-19. Passed 5-16-19.)