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Township introduces ordinance to recover costs for non-emergency elder-care responses
Summary
The Waterford Township Board introduced Ordinance 2026-001 to allow the township to invoice elder care facilities for non-emergency fire/EMS responses ("lift assistance," false alarms), establish appeal and waiver processes, and permit liens for unpaid charges; it was placed on the Jan. 26 agenda for possible adoption.
The Charter Township of Waterford Board of Trustees on Jan. 12 introduced Ordinance No. 2026-001, a proposed amendment creating a Non-Emergency Cost Recovery division that would allow the township to recover the expense of certain non-emergency fire and EMS responses to elder care facilities.
The ordinance, as drafted, defines "non-emergency" responses to include lift assistance, non-emergency transportation and false alarms originating from personal alarm devices, and it designates a "responsible party" (the facility owner) as liable for expenses when a facility registers five or more non-emergency requests or false alarms in a calendar year. The proposed code would allow the township to invoice responsible parties, apply interest to unpaid invoices, and place a lien on property for unpaid charges after specified notice periods.
Jeffrey Polkowski, the townships Director of Development Services, submitted the ordinance language and Fire Chief Nye reviewed operational definitions and the departmental process for tracking non-emergency calls. The ordinance text sets an administrative schedule for charges to be adopted by resolution, requires the Fire Department EMS coordinator to maintain call records, and establishes an appeal and waiver process handled by the Fire Chief or designee. Facilities receiving repeated excessive non-emergency responses would be required to submit a corrective-action plan to reduce future calls.
Board members asked questions about billing procedures, lien application, and the appeals timeline. Trustees voted unanimously to introduce the ordinance and place it on the Jan. 26 board agenda for possible adoption.
The ordinance text in the record ties billing authority to a defined instance of "excessive requests for non-emergency responses" (five or more in a calendar year) and specifies that individual residents shall not be billed for such responses; the invoice and appeal procedures are described in the draft language. The board did not adopt the ordinance on Jan. 12; introduction sets the item for a formal consideration and possible adoption on Jan. 26.
