‘Negligent’ instances is the focus
By Jim Newell
Managing Editor
jnewell@mihomepaper.com
OXFORD TWP. — The Oxford Township Board of Trustees voted 7-0 to approve the second reading and adoption of the Oxford Fire Department Cost Recovery Ordinance during its meeting on Feb. 12.
And while the intention of the ordinance is to help defray some of the additional cost of fire and paramedic services brought on by negligence, at least one board member said he wanted to make sure that the fire department was not charging people for assistance just because they are non-residents, or if they were unable to pay.
Trustee David Wagner said he does not want the township to create a situation “where someone is afraid to ask for help.”
“While I believe the ordinance overall is good for the township, I still have some concerns remaining regarding the potential financial responsibility of individuals who are not residents who are provided fire department services through no fault of their own,” Wagner said. “I do not think it’s good for Oxford Township to be potentially going after these individuals for payment beyond what their insurance will cover. Causing financial distress for one person, or one family, is one too many in my opinion.”
“I don’t know where you’re coming from with exceeding what insurance pays. We don’t do that, never have. This (ordinance) wouldn’t do that,” Oxford Fire Chief Majestic said. “When we transport somebody, whether resident, non-resident, what have you, we only ask what the insurance will give. Our non-residents, we bill what is accepted and appropriate that the township supervisor signs off on, which is the Medicare and Medicaid approved billing amounts. And that’s all we bill for. We don’t go above and beyond what the insurance says we can bill for.”
“We are not out to make a profit in our fire department. We’re out there to recover costs from negligent people and companies,” Supervisor Jack Curtis said. “There are communities out there that bill, just for showing up at the scene, thousands of dollars. That’s not what this is for. What this is about is taking negligent individuals and companies and billing them for the recovery costs of what they do negligently.”
According to language in the proposed ordinance, “A significant number of fire/rescue incidents in the Township involve acts by nonresidential individuals, contractors and/or tax-exempt facilities. There has been an increased demand for fire rescue services beyond regular firefighting, requiring additional training, certification, licensure and specialized equipment. As a result, the Township finds that a greater additional and financial burden has been placed on the Township’s Fire Department by the actions of and demands for service from nontax paying entities.”
The ordinance states that a further burden has been caused by drivers operating under the influence of intoxicants or controlled substances, who are more likely to cause personal injury or property damage.
Township attorney Brittany Ellis added that there is an appeals process under the ordinance where any person who is assessed a fee can appear before the township board to ask for that fee to waived and it would be within the board’s discretion to do so.
“So, there have been checks and balances in addition to the fire department having discretion on when they can waive the fee in extreme circumstances,” Ellis said.
Any individual who requires fire department services, and is not negligent, would not be assessed fees.
“There are specific instances under the ordinance where it addresses non-resident fees, and one of those is if you are found guilty of a drunk driving,” Ellis said.
“The negligence would be defined through the law,” Majestic said. “It’s not going to be a judgement call on my part. If they go to court, if their issued a ticket through the police or through the sheriff. That’s where a lot of that is going to come from.”
Majestic cited an instance where a commercial driver was found to be at fault because he did not secure his load and caused a major spill on M-24. Majestic had to call an Oakland County hazmat team to help mitigate the scene. The fire department then received a bill for those services. Majestic said those bills can range from $3,000 to $8,000 and the fire department needs a means to go after those incurred costs.
“And this is my biggest concern, for hazmat incidents and primarily utility incidents where we are putting in a lot of manpower and a lot of hours that we’re going to get a bill for and I don’t have it in my budget to pay these departments back,” Majestic said.
Neighboring townships like Addison and Orion townships also use a cost recovery ordinance. Ellis modeled the Oxford Township cost recovery ordinance on the Orion Township ordinance.
Wagner commended Majestic for saying he would create a policy to not compel people “to pay out-of-pocket beyond what the insurance pays for legitimate emergency responses and accidents,” but suggested adding language to the ordinance stating that the fire department would not pursue reimbursement from any non-resident individuals beyond what insurance covers.
Majestic agreed and said in the case of an incident where someone is transported to a hospital, for instance, the fire department does not ask for people to pay out-of-pocket for that service.
“We only send a bill to those people that we transport, and we bill their insurance first and foremost,” Majestic said. “And if they are a resident of this community, township or village, we take whatever the insurance company provides us and that’s it. We do not send them to collections. If they don’t have insurance and don’t have the ability to pay, that’s it. We’re done. We don’t go after them.”
“Nevertheless, it’s important recognize that no policy is permanent and it does not guarantee that future fire department administrations will not pursue these individuals,” Wagner said.