[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Council of the Town of Belvidere 12-11-2017 by Ord. No. 2017-11. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The Town of Belvidere, not having a paid or par-paid fire department,
hereby recognizes and contracts with the Good Will Fire Co. No. 1,
Inc., a volunteer fire company for the purpose of extinguishing fires
and furnishing related emergency services as permitted pursuant to
N.J.S.A. 40A:14-68.
The Chief of the Fire Department and all executive officers
of the Department shall be elected and shall serve terms of office
pursuant to the procedures and terms established in the Constitution
and By-Laws of the Fire Department, as the same may be revised from
time to time. The Town Council shall appoint the Fire Chief selected
by the Department as the Fire Chief of the Town for a term of office
co-extensive with that as elected by the Department.
The membership of the Fire Department shall be determined the[1] sound discretion of the members in good standing of the
Department in accordance with its Constitution and By-Laws, as the
same may be revised from time to time and in accordance with all applicable
laws, rules and regulations. The Fire Department shall establish classes
of membership and rules and regulations with respect thereto, including,
but not limited to, active, social, honorary, rescue, junior, life,
cadet and fire police, in accordance with its Constitution and By-Laws,
as the same may be revised from time to time.
[1]
Editor's Note: So in original.
Exemption Certificates shall be issued to members of the Fire
Department who shall have served and complied with the requirements
of N.J.S.A. 40A:14-56, as the same may be amended from time to time.
The Chief of the Fire Department shall prepare and file with the Town
Clerk, annually, the statement, under oath, setting forth the name,
residence, age and citizenship of every member of the Fire Department,
the date of his or her admission to membership, and the percentage
of fire duty credited to each such member for the preceding year.
The Council shall rely upon this submission in determining to whom
exemption certificates shall be issued.
The Chief of the Fire Department shall be charged with the responsibility
of ensuring the proper use, care and maintenance of any vehicles or
equipment owned by the Town that are utilized by the Department. The
Chief shall make, from time to time, recommendations to the Town Council
with respect to appropriations, supplies and repairs, in furtherance
of the efficient operation of the Fire Department.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
The Good Will Fire Co. No. 1, Inc.
A natural person or persons, partnership, corporation, association,
firm or other legal entity.
The person having received emergency services provided by
the Fire Department.
The purpose of this article is to provide authority, procedures
and requirements to seek collection and reimbursement for the reasonable
costs of responding to such incidents by the Fire Department for fire
service calls, hazardous material incidents, environmental incidents,
and safety and rescue incidents coordinated via Warren County Dispatch
and 911 responses, those that use hazardous material abatement equipment
and materials are also eligible for reimbursement.
The governing body of the Town of Belvidere authorizes the Good
Will Fire Co. No. 1, Inc., and/or Town of Belvidere to recover the
real and reasonable costs incurred for firefighting materials or equipment
used and expended; the costs of the use of fire trucks, fire engines,
rescue equipment, tankers and other vehicles; the costs of hazardous
situation abatement materials involved in any fire, safety and rescue
incident or operation, and hazardous abatement incident, including
vehicular accidents or fires.
A.
The Town of Belvidere recognizes the Fire Department's need
to bill for volunteer fire, rescue and hazmat services to aid in the
provision of emergency services.
B.
No person requiring emergency services shall be denied services due
to lack of insurance or ability to pay.
C.
Any applicable charges for volunteer emergency services rendered
shall be billed directly to the user of such services or the user's
insurance company.
D.
The Town of Belvidere and/or Fire Department may, either directly
or through any third-party billing agency with which it has contracted
for billing and/or collections for volunteer fire, rescue and hazmat
services, makes arrangements with users of such services and/or their
financially responsible party for the installment payment of bills.
E.
The Fire Department shall provide a financial reporting to the Town
of Belvidere's Chief Financial Officer on a semiannual basis
of:
(1)
The opening balance of funds on hand.
(2)
Amount of billings issued by the third-party biller.
(3)
Amount of collections in satisfaction of billings issued.
(4)
A detailed listing of any amounts disbursed, including the vendor
and purpose of disbursement.
(5)
The ending balance of funds on hand.
A.
The Town of Belvidere and/or the Fire Department is hereby authorized
to enter into a contract with a third-party billing agency and/or
collection agency for the performance of emergency, rescue and hazmat
services billing and/or collection services, provided that the following
standards for third-party billing are met:
(1)
The third-party billing service is to be provided at a rate not to
exceed 20% of fees collected or at an amount consistent with the fair
market value for the services rendered.
(2)
Neither the billing agency nor any of its employees are subject to
exclusion for any user fee.
(3)
The billing agency is bonded and/or insured in amounts satisfactory
to the Town of Belvidere.
(4)
The Fire Department shall solicit competitive proposals for the provision
of third-party billing services at least once every three years to
ensure these services are provided at the lowest competitive cost.
All documentation of this process shall be provided to the Town of
Belvidere for review.
B.
The Town of Belvidere and/or the Fire Department may, at its discretion,
bill additionally for material and vehicle costs in the case of any
major, extraordinary or unique incidents, including, but not limited
to, hazardous material spills, fire emergency and rescue incidents
that destroy or severely damage emergency services equipment.
C.
User fees.
(1)
Volunteer fire services shall initiate user fees for the delivery
of emergency services, supplies and equipment to the scene of any
hazardous material incident, environmental incident or safety and
rescue incident or operation, including vehicular accidents and fires
that occur and are responded to by the Fire Department.
(2)
Every person and/or utility that is provided with volunteer emergency,
rescue and hazmat services shall be billed a user fee in accordance
with this article.
(3)
The user fee for volunteer emergency services rendered shall be billed
directly to the user of such services' insurance company. If
the insurance company is not known, the user of services shall be
billed directly, with instructions to forward the bill to his/her
insurance provider.
(4)
Any and all amounts collected as a result of this article shall be
used exclusively for the replacement or maintenance of Fire Department
emergency services materials, equipment and training.
(5)
The Town of Belvidere may implement rules and/or regulations and/or
revoke or amend existing rules and/or regulations as may be deemed
necessary for the billing and/or collection and use of user fees pursuant
to this article.
D.
Uncollectable accounts.
(1)
The user fee is anticipated to be paid by the user's insurance
company. In the instance where the Town of Belvidere and/or the Fire
Department receives notification from the insurance of carrier that
it will not honor the invoice, the Town of Belvidere and/or Fire Department
is authorized to invoice the responsible party directly and take any
legal action necessary to collect the fee(s), including negotiating
a settlement.
(2)
The Town of Belvidere and/or Fire Department may, at its discretion,
write off the uncollected fee amounts as a bad debt, without prejudice
to the responsible party.
(3)
Should the Town of Belvidere and/or Fire Department determine that
an insurance carrier has remitted the fee to the responsible party
involved and that the party has failed to remit the fee, the Town
of Belvidere and/or Fire Department are authorized to pursue all legal
means and appropriate action in order to collect the account.
