Florida City to Charge Fees for Firefighter Help

[x635 4,066]

Legally, could FD's in the Northeast bill as well?

I imagine the homeowners insurance would cover it, I assume. If it does, I wonder if "billing" would be a practical way to add funding to FD's such as Mount Vernon?

But then again, what do people pay taxes for???

Florida City to Charge Fees for Firefighter Help

Story by local6.com

10-17-2007

MINNEOLA, Fla.

A controversial ordinance in Minneola that charges residents in need of help from firefighters or other emergency workers was passed Tuesday night.

If firefighters are called and put out a fire at a home, the owners will be billed $500 under the ordinance.

And motorists who crash and are injured could be charged as much at $1,800 for receiving emergency help. Ambulance fees are not included, the Local 6 report said.

The emergency-response fees will be sent to insurance companies.

The plan was proposed to offset rising costs of sending firefighters to fires and crashes, according an Orlando Sentinel report.

It was not known whether people who pay taxes that fund the services will still have to pay a separate fee if they use them.

[Goose 188]

Aren't Fire Districts barred from charging for services rendered? The biggest issue, as i see it, is there are so many different types of fire departments here (at least in Westchester/Putnam/Dutchess).

[Guest]

I find it interesting that they are allowed to do this, and what concerns me is members of the public delaying calling the fire department because they want to save some money. As far as I know, taxes pay for the fire service, you ring 911 and they come, no questions asked.

[EFFDCO4 0]

In theory you are correct; you dial 911 and they come, end of story. It's all in the tax bill. But there are instances where EMS or ALS providers bill the patient for service. And there are also occasions where the building department may bill the homeowner for multiple false or malicious AFA's. Does this set a precedent - who knows?

[LTNRFD 266]

Just a few random thought.........

Many home owners policies have "Fire Department Salvage" coverage. I'm not sure if thats the proper term. This allows, in my policy, up to $500 that the Fire Department can bill the insurance company, if there was ANY type of fire, smoke or water condition at my house. If the FD did any type of salvage to minimize the damage, they would be entitled to that money.

It was explained to me to give the FD's an incentive to cover furniture, cover holes in the roof, cover the windows, remove water etc. before the insurance company/owner can get a company in to do it.

I think the FD's don't bill for it because the home owner pays fire taxes for the service. On that note I pay for my homeowners insurance and I pay for that benifit, why not let the FD's get that money. It could either help to improve services or reduce my tax bill. Either way I pay a little more tax or I pay a little more for my insurance. The cities and towns bill for ambulance transport because most everyone has some type of medical insurance that covers ambulance transport. Every FD will bill for a large scale Haz-Mat call, why, because they can and the responsible party has the insurance to pay for it. Why not tap into another form of funds that most of us are already paying for?

[helicopper 1,050]

A few more random thoughts...

Might this encourage people to try to "solve their own problems" or extinguish their own fires prior to calling 911 to avoid the bill?

If fire service is provided for by taxation, what benefit is realized through billing? Will my taxes go down or is this MORE money going to the FD? Not that I mind if it is justified, I just want accountability - not any different that what I expect from Putnam County even though my taxes are going up EIGHT times the inflation rate... But that's a rant for another thread.

If my homeowner's insurance will pay the FD, then my insurance premiums will undoubtedly go up the following year, so I AM in fact paying for it. Insurance is NOT free!

Billing for excessive false alarms (fire or burglar) is not the same thing as billing for SERVICES provided. The penalties for frequent flyers on alarms is to deter them from letting the situation persist - not to recoup the costs of the response.

I like the idea for the FD Salvage coverage in a homeowners insurance policy. Does anyone know if that's available in NY?

Considering the article talks about billing only insurance companies and not individuals, I can see the insurance industry doing the same thing as MEDICARE. If you bill me, you have to bill everyone so now all EMS patients (in billing systems) get a bill regardless of insurance coverage.

[COMMANDCHIEF 4]

The "Districts can't charge" is a State rule. Not a Federal one. It apparently can be done in FLA. Districts in NY can bill out I believe , for materials used. Absorbent or specialized equipment that was expended.

[mfc2257 464]

Don't assume that taxes pay for fire services. There are plenty of places in the US that state law doesn't let municipalities to levy a fire tax and the FD exists through the sole efforts of it's fundraising efforts and donatons.

[Guest]

Where I come from here in South Australia we have an emergency services levy, this pays for all the services including fire, rescue, even surf life saving. The reason behind this is in the past councils (or county) and insurance comapnies were funing, so in a way, the "rich" were funding their districts well and the poor were only getting the basic service. This way, the levy gives everyone the needed funding and all services get what they need. Some districts are annoyed as they no longer get the bells and whistles, but the poorer areas are happy as they are getting far better equipment.

Interestingly, we still have to pay for ambulance transport, if you have ambulance cover its alright, otherwise its 500 dollars a pop.

[JBE 328]

This is going to set a dangerous precedent, IMHO. You just might have a situation where a person is not going to want to pay $500 or any amount of money to have the FD show up. Hence, spread of fire, more damage, etc. I've learned from experience that certain ethnicities in the city don't call right away because of that belief they have to pay.

[ja3kfd 34]

Guys on the notion of the Billing for Automatic False Alarms, the Town gets a record every month from the 3 Districts in Bedford and They fine directly and they ( The Town ) not the District or dept. get the money. as well we have tied into the Ordinance, if a Homeowner gets a pre set number per year , they can be forced into installing a Knox Box for the House as well as paying the fines.

Edited October 18, 2007 by ja3kfd

[Scottyk107 9]

I saw this on TV last night. The department's argument was that most of their extrication and MVA runs are on I-95 and the people on that road are passing through and dont pay taxes to that city. I can understand where they are coming from but why should you only be covered in the fire district you reside? They said that your insurance company would foot the bill and they don't expect premiums to go up but i'm not quite sure I believe that.

[Guest alsfirefighter]

I applaud their forethought in trying to solve funding issues. I do not know the whole story for what they exactly bill for or what the reimbursement policy is but I've always been for finding non-traditional ways to assist in funding for both fire and EMS. Particulary when it comes to service calls. While being tax funded, this obviously doesn't cover everything and not everyone we deal with pays taxes either. If there is a service that you offer, that there is another private company/person that can perform that service then I see no reason why there shouldn't be a fee attached to it. Things like pump outs, etc. Have an issue where you seem to respond to the same address for chimney fires/issues. Have to chain that chimney...charge them a $50 service fee.

I've always been a fan of other fees on services to support emergency services. I know some states have supplemented their EMS systems by adding on small fees to common governmental requirements. Driver's licenses, building permits etc, where an addtional $3-5 was earmarked specifically for EMS. You just have to think outside the box and maybe many of you come from fire districts, but in municiple FD's where you compete for pennies out of every dollar...tax income doesn't cut it.

[Scottyk107 9]

Most of the Fire Rescue departments down here (Florida) charge for every ambulance ride. Its something like 49$ initial fee and then 7$ a mile after that for BLS. And a little over 100$ and 15$ a mile for ALS. A ride on stat flight what ever people know it as is upwards of 3000$

[ny10570 745]

are you sure its that cheap?? Thats amazing. I know NYC is by no means a deal, but BLS starts at $450 and $6 or $8 a mile. Stat flight I believe starts just short of 10k.