Proposal would let fire depts. charge for services

NEWS EDITOR

Emergency officials have asked the Pike County Fiscal Court to pass an ordinance that would help them to recover costs from responding to a vehicle accident.

“We're trying to stay afloat,” said Randy Courtney, president of the Pike County Fire Fighters Association. “Everything is getting tight these days.”

The proposed ordinance would allow Pike County volunteer fire departments, which rely solely on donations and subscription fees for funding, to charge for services rendered by the departments or rescue squads at an accident.

The ordinance, which was supported by 11 of the county's 12 volunteer departments, would allow departments to charge $150 for the provision of a utility truck, $250 for the provision of an engine/pumper truck, rescue vehicle, $250 for the provision of an aerial truck and $25 per vehicle for each additional 15 minutes the vehicles are on the scene.

The charges would be billed to the vehicle owner's Personal Injury Protection policy. The PIP policy is mandated by state, but Insurance Agent Donnie Hall, of Hall's Insurance, said citizens can reject the policy.

Some local fire departments already bill for services rendered at the scene, Courtney said. However, the departments were having problems collecting from insurance companies because of the lack of state or local law.

“We thought we would work on the local level first and see what happens,” Courtney said.

Some magistrates were concerned that this ordinance, modeled after a Jefferson County ordinance, would raise insurance fees.

“I don't believe that there is one insurance company that wouldn't pass this on to the customer,” said Magistrate Hilman Dotson. “And we certainly don't want to see insurance increase any more.”

Hall agrees. “It absolutely would raise costs,” he said.

However, charging those involved in an accident is becoming more common across the United States as department costs rise while funding drops, said Capt. Greg Schults with the Kentucky Firefighters Association.

“This has been discussed in Northern Kentucky, but as far as I know, right now, no one has done it,” Schults said.

The fiscal court has referred the issue to its Insurance Committee to research.

News Editor Andrea Bennett can be reached via e-mail at abennett@news-expressky.com