Brigham City urges Corinne to adopt reciprocal fire billing as ambulance and equipment costs surge

Brigham City officials presented a consolidation feasibility analysis to the Corinne City Council and asked the city to adopt a reciprocal fire-billing resolution and consider a long-term medical services contract to preserve 24/7 emergency coverage.

Derek Weather, Brigham Citycity administrator, told council members Brigham Cityhas studied local and countywide service models and concluded that escalating personnel and equipment costs now make the departmentself-sustaining model untenable without contributions from entities it serves outside its corporate limits. "We need Corinne Fire. We're going to continue to need Corinne Fire to help serve Brigham City, and we wanna compensate you for that service," Weather said.

Presenters said Brigham City's most recent (unaudited) figures showed roughly $5.0 million in fire/EMS expenses against about $1.8 million in direct revenues, creating an approximate $3.2 million annual subsidy paid from general fund sources. The city described the gap as driven primarily by personnel growth and rising fleet costs; presenters gave examples, saying an ambulance that cost about $63,000 a decade ago recently cost about $400,000 to replace.

Brigham City's consultant, AP Triton, described a proposed cost-allocation formula to share the subsidy across participating jurisdictions: 50% based on population, 25% on taxable value and 25% on measured service demand (call volume). Using that methodology, presenters estimated Corinnewould bear about $105,000 of the subsidy in the example scenario.

As an interim approach, Brigham City proposed a reciprocal billing model for fire responses outside municipal boundaries. Under the model, the responding city would bill the responsible jurisdiction (for unincorporated areas, the presenters said that would typically be the county), rather than billing individual residents. Weather illustrated the concept: "Let's say it's $2,000 a call. Every time you go outside of your corporate limits to help a different entity, it's $2,000. Every time we come and help you with fire, not medical, we're gonna send you a bill for $2,000 and you're gonna pay us." The presenters also said Brigham City would pursue a medical-services contract with neighboring jurisdictions to retain ambulance coverage.

Council members pressed presenters on data and mechanics. Several council members said their internal call counts differed from figures presented; presenters said they were mapping GPS coordinates and would provide case-level data so jurisdictions could verify which calls occurred inside or outside city limits. Council members also questioned whether Box Elder County would accept bills for services to unincorporated areas; Shane Bateman (council chair) reported he had raised the issue with the county commission and said, "I could tell you they're not gonna pay that bill," reflecting skepticism about a county-funded solution.

A public commenter warned the proposed approach could disproportionately burden small jurisdictions and urged a broader south-end or countywide strategy rather than a one-off billing scheme. Presenters said the consultant's long-term recommendation included exploring special service districts or a unified south-end service, but noted such structural change could take five to 10 years and require public ballots.

Council members asked staff to place a follow-up discussion on the next agenda, requested more granular call-location data from Brigham City, and signaled interest in a closed session or work meeting to review numbers in detail before taking formal action. Brigham City said it will meet with nearby Willard on Nov. 13 and expects to place a reciprocal-resolution item on its December agenda for participating communities to review.

The presentation and council questions represent the start of a multi-step review rather than a final commitment; council members repeatedly stressed they want verified call data and clarity on whether the county would assume billing responsibility for unincorporated areas before approving any fee that would affect residents or their local budgets.