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Committee asks mayor, fire chief and staff to pursue changes to fire-fee ordinance, consider subscription for out-of-city residents
Summary
The advisory committee directed the mayor to meet with the fire chief, city attorney and other staff to examine the city's fire-fee ordinance, investigate fee recovery options for large incidents, and explore a subscription model for property owners outside city limits who receive fire protection.
The Prior Creek Advisory Committee asked the mayor to convene the fire chief, city attorney and relevant staff to begin work on amending the local fire-fee ordinance to allow the city to recover costs for large incidents and to explore a subscription service for residents and property owners outside the corporate limits who are inside the city's fire protection district.
Councilmembers cited several examples of costs the city currently does not recover under existing ordinance language, including spill-control response to semi-tractor accidents, extended traffic control, and events involving fire suppression after illegal burning or during a burn ban. Committee members discussed whether insurance claims could be billed directly and whether a $500 policy rider commonly in commercial insurance could be captured by city ordinance.
"Our current ordinance doesn't allow us for us to charge on those," one councilmember said, urging staff and the mayor to "start having some serious discussions" with the fire chief and city attorney about recommended ordinance changes.
Committee members also discussed a subscription model that would allow property owners outside the corporate limits but inside the fire protection district to opt in for a yearly fee that would cover the cost of emergency responses. One committee member suggested using utility billing as a voluntary mechanism to collect subscription fees, saying it had been done in other nearby cities.
The committee amended the wording of an administrative referral (changing the phrase "council" to "administrative") so staff could begin drafting recommended changes and the mayor could convene the relevant departments. After the amendment, the committee voted to forward the item for administrative action.
Committee members said they would like any ordinance changes or a subscription program in place by July 1 of the next fiscal year to allow a full year of data collection. The committee did not adopt specific fee schedules or final subscription terms; those were left to staff and the city attorney to draft and present at a future meeting.
Votes at a glance: the committee voted to change the recommendation language from council action to administrative action and to forward the item to the mayor, fire chief and city attorney for draft language and options.
