Fire Departments Charge Fees
This article from Firehouse.com discusses the practice of fire departments charging fees for services.
On October 24, the Hastings, Michigan fire department joined the growing ranks of units that charge their residents for designated fire services. Its City Council unanimously adopted an ordinance to charge non-metro area residents for emergency calls, as well as to bill regional inhabitants who repeatedly issue false alarms or commit illegal fire-provoking acts. While such a process is hardly unprecedented, it still remains an exception and not the rule across the national landscape....
Yet this phenomenon is hardly relegated to The Wolverine State, says Chief John Sinclair, the EMS chair of The International Association of Fire Chiefs. Shrinking budgets, a more highly paid labor force, tax payer initiatives that limit taxes and increased competition for funding have forced both fire and police departments with unfunded mandates. Rather than reduce their services, agency heads nationwide have opted to increase “the rate, the number, [and] the creativeness of programs people are charging for”.
Many of the fire departments I'm familiar with have been charging fees for a number of years. These are all volunteer departments however, and they simply cannot afford to provide service without recouping some money to cover the costs.
Is this a widespread practice? Let me know. Thanks.
