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Germantown committee updates fire department fee schedule, negotiates lower billing fee; residents raise concerns about bills and referendum transparency
Summary
The Village of Germantown Public Safety Committee approved updates to the fire department’s billable services schedule and reported the village’s billing fee was renegotiated from 8% to 3%.
The Village of Germantown Public Safety Committee approved an update to the fire department’s billable services schedule, adding chargeable items and updating rates to align with Medicare, comparable departments and supply costs. Committee members were told the village’s billing vendor fee was renegotiated from 8% to 3%.
Staff said the updated schedule explicitly adds services the department had not previously billed for, such as cleanup costs for certain incidents on U.S. 41 and reinspection fees for businesses that require more than the twice‑annual state‑funded inspections. The chief told the committee the new billing company will help recoup costs the village had not previously pursued and will include those recoveries in regular reports.
Several residents raised concerns about larger bills and how they will affect residents on fixed incomes. An online comment submitted by “the Schneiders” warned, “When you use the service and get a huge bill, this might make you think about calling 911 for help,” and asked why station remodeling had not been included in the recent referendum. Committee members asked whether the billing changes would affect taxes; staff replied there would be no change to tax structure or base as a result of the updated fee schedule.
Trustees also questioned why some EMS or fire service bills are never paid in full. The chief explained the village uses the state’s debt collection process but that some patients cannot be located, provide false identification or otherwise cannot be pursued; the billing company is also a debt collection agency and the village historically writes off unpaid balances after a period. Staff said the village has used a professional billing company since 2003.
The committee voted to adopt the updated schedule; the motion passed unanimously. Staff said the updated schedule is designed to simplify billing (one bundled charge instead of many itemized lines) and to increase recoveries while keeping billing practices consistent with Medicare and comparable departments.
