[HISTORY: Adopted by the Common Council of
the City of Linwood as indicated in article histories. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Fire Department — See Ch. 30.
[Adopted 9-24-2008 by Ord. No. 20-2008]
This article shall be known as the "Motor Vehicle
Accident Reimbursement Ordinance."
A.
The City
of Linwood shall have the authority to bill and seek reimbursement
of expenses for hazardous materials spill cleanups incurred from motor
vehicle accidents when the City of Linwood Fire Department responds.
B.
The City,
at its sole discretion, shall have the authority to authorize and
designate the Linwood Fire Department to complete and process the
billing.
[Added 9-27-2011 by Ord. No. 14-2011]
It is recognized that the duties of the City
of Linwood Volunteer Fire Company require specialized fire/safety/emergency/rescue/environmental/hazardous
material tools, equipment, materials, supplies and specialized training
in order to provide for the safety of the public served. Such requirements,
as well as the response to emergency situations involving, and/or
caused by, nonresident individuals, places a tremendous financial
burden on the City of Linwood Volunteer Fire Company. While taxes,
donations and grants, if applicable, may provide the fire companies
sufficient financial assistance to exist, in an effort to avoid the
ever-increasing tax burdens of the residents of the City of Linwood,
it is found that the alternative source of funding, motor vehicle
accident reimbursement (i.e. response billing), is appropriate and
should be authorized.
The City of Linwood is authorized to recover
the reasonable costs of the use of emergency fire and/or rescue personnel
hours, tools, equipment, materials and vehicles; and/or hazardous
material and/or environmental response personnel hours, tools, equipment,
materials and vehicles.
A.
The reasonable
costs authorized to be billed under this article may be recovered
directly by the City of Linwood or through a third-party billing service
as an authorized agent for the collection of such costs.
B.
The Public
Safety Committee of the City of Linwood shall determine how the funds
collected shall be distributed and allocated.
[Added 9-27-2011 by Ord. No. 14-2011]
The reimbursement rates for the aforementioned
costs shall be set at $250 by the billing entity. If a third-party
billing service is utilized, said third-party billing service shall
be authorized to charge a service charge in addition to the costs
it is recovering for the City of Linwood. Said service charge will
be set by the third-party billing service.
All assessed charges, or portions thereof, not
paid within 30 days after the receipt of a statement of charges shall
bear interest at the rate of 10$ per annum until paid. If the statement
of charges is delivered to the responsible party by first-class mail,
three days shall be added to the prescribed period within which payment
is to be made.
