[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Augusta 7-1-2021 by Ord. No. 21-116. Amendments noted where applicable.]
This Ordinance shall be known and may be cited as the "Fire and Rescue Cost Recovery Ordinance of the City of Augusta, Maine," and will be referred to herein as the "Ordinance."
The purpose of this Ordinance is to establish a fair and equitable procedure to recover the cost for the deployment of emergency and non-emergency services by the Augusta Fire/Rescue Department provided to, and rendered for, the City of Augusta.
This Ordinance is adopted pursuant to and consistent with the Municipal Home Rule Powers as provided for in Article VIII, Part 2, Section 1, of the Constitution of the State of Maine, and Title 30-A M.R.S.A. § 3001 et seq.
A. 
The provisions of this Ordinance shall govern all emergency and non-emergency incident scenes to which the Augusta Fire/Rescue Department is dispatched or requested by the Central Maine Regional Communication Center, written mutual aid agreement, or any State or local agency to: control or confine hazardous materials; respond to illegal burns; respond to motor vehicle/traffic incidents, including motor vehicle crashes or vehicle fires; or response to nuisance fire alarms.
B. 
This Ordinance shall be applicable to all individuals or entities who receive emergency or non-emergency services provided by the Augusta Fire/Rescue Department, as specified in this Ordinance.
A. 
Any person or entity who shall receive services from the Augusta Fire/Rescue Department that is requested by such person or entity or on behalf of such person or entity acting in good faith and in the interest of health and safety of such person or entity, (i.e., "Recipient Party") shall provide the Augusta Fire Chief and/or Incident Commander with sufficient personal and insurance information, including, but not limited to policy numbers and contact information for their underwriters and agents, to enable the City of Augusta to file claims with the Recipient Party, the Recipient Party's insurance carrier(s), or a third-party agency to recover the costs incurred during the incident.
B. 
In the event the Recipient Party has no insurance, the City of Augusta may bill the Recipient Party directly.
The Augusta Fire/Rescue Department shall establish Mitigation Rates for the delivery of emergency and non-emergency services by the Augusta Fire/Rescue Department for personnel, supplies and equipment to the scene of emergency and non-emergency incidents. See Augusta Fire Fee Schedule. The Mitigation Rates shall be based on actual costs of the services and that which is usual, customary and reasonable based on statewide averages and which may include any services, personnel, supplies, and equipment. These fees shall be accepted by the Augusta City Council annually and may be adjusted on the anniversary date of this Ordinance in order to keep the Augusta Fire/Rescue Department's cost recovery program in conformity with increasing operating expenses.
A. 
Following conclusion of an emergency or non-emergency response incident meeting the requirements of this Ordinance, the Augusta Fire Chief, or his/her designee shall prepare a detailed listing of all known expenses.
B. 
The Augusta Fire Chief shall determine the total assessable costs and shall in consultation with other City personnel and entities involved in responding to the incident determine whether to assess any, all, or part of such costs against any of the Recipient Parties. In make such determination, the following shall be considered:
(1) 
the total assessable costs;
(2) 
the risk the public safety or fire emergency incident imposed on the City, its residents and their property;
(3) 
whether there was any injury or damage to person or property;
(4) 
the extent the public safety or fire emergency incident required an unusual or extraordinary use of City personnel or equipment; and
(5) 
whether there was any damage to the environment.
C. 
After consideration of the factors in Subsection B immediately above, the Augusta Fire Chief may allocate assessable costs among and between Recipient Parties, including allocating all or some of such costs jointly and severally against more than one Recipient Party regardless of whether a Recipient Party has other legal liability therefore or is legally at fault.
D. 
If the Augusta Fire Chief determines not to assess all or part of assessable costs against a Recipient Party, such determination shall not in any way limit or extinguish the liability of a Recipient Party to the other parties.
E. 
A designated third-party billing agent shall prepare and send an invoice to the Recipient Party or the Recipient Party's insurance carrier for their proportionate share of the assessable costs. Such invoice shall be due and payable within thirty (30) days of the date of the mailing.
All monies collected from above billing, less costs of collection, shall be deposited in the General Fund revenues account.
Any failure by the Recipient Party to pay the invoice within the time period provided in § 45-8 shall be considered in default. In case of default, the City Manager may authorize commencement of a civil lawsuit to recover such costs, plus any additional costs, or expenses for attorney fees and court costs, as allowed by law.
This Ordinance shall not in any way impair or remove the necessity of compliance with any other applicable rule, ordinance, regulation, by-law, permit, or provision of law. Where this Ordinance imposes a greater restriction upon the use of the Augusta Fire/Rescue Department's services, the provision of this Ordinance shall control.
Sections of this Ordinance shall be deemed severable. In the event any section, clause, or provision of this Ordinance is declared invalid, the same shall not affect the validity of this Ordinance as a whole or any part thereof other than the part so declared to be invalid.