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Municipal Accident Response Fees: Selected Media Reports |
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10/23/2007 |
More cities charging insurance companies for emergency response
Orlando Sentinel, 10/21/2007
By Robert Pérez
Cities desperate for new income are ready to cash in on wrecks on their roads.
Saying they can't provide the service for free, they want to charge insurance companies for responding, whether someone is hurt or not.
Proponents say the new fees are simply user fees for drivers who cause traffic accidents, but others warn the charges will eventually push up insurance rates for everyone.
Longwood, Winter Springs and Minneola are ready to join a growing number of cities around the country considering the user fees. Most exempt local residents from paying. City leaders stress that a majority of traffic accidents are caused by nonresidents. 'We are a city of 14,300 that during the day swells to 60,000 and increasing,' said Longwood Mayor John Maingot. 'The cost of responding to traffic accidents is being borne by the taxpayers of the city of Longwood, and that cost is going up exponentially.' Longwood's proposed ordinance received initial approval Oct. 15 and will have a final reading on
Nov. 5. Minneola's initial ordinance was approved last week. Winter Springs officials are set to make an initial vote on a similar ordinance Monday.
In a memo to commissioners, city staff noted that many motorists drive through Winter Springs on State Road 417, State Road 434, U.S. Highway 17-92 and State Road 419. 'These roads bring thousands of transient motorists through the city every day,' the staff memo said.
Cities in 18 states from Texas to Iowa have adopted response fees. Many include fees for police response as well as fire.
However, Missouri passed legislation in September banning police agencies from charging fees.
There are about two dozen cities in Florida that have adopted similar fees, and the list of cities considering them is growing, said Regina Moore, president of Cost Recovery Corp.
Since 1999, Moore's Dayton, Ohio, company has filed insurance claims for cities and followed up with insurance carriers for a fee. Other companies provide the same service.
Ordinances that charge for police or fire response usually will charge only the party found at fault in the accident. 'This is the ultimate user fee,' said Assistant Fire Chief Pat McCabe of Winter Park, the first city in Florida to adopt a fire response fee in 2005. 'If you don't get in a crash, you'll never get charged.' Winter Park, which charges from $435 to $2,100 per call depending on the severity of the accident, has billed about $150,000 in charges in the 30 months since the new fees were adopted, McCabe said.
The city has been paid about $50,000 to date, McCabe said. But he expects most of the claims will be paid. 'A lot of insurance companies are dragging their feet,' he said. 'They're holding back, asking for more information and supporting paperwork. But over the last six to eight months, most of the big insurance companies have started to come through.' Winter Park adopted the fees to offset the cost of extrication equipment and training for firefighters who cut victims out of mangled vehicles, McCabe said.
The city, where 90 percent of traffic crashes involve nonresidents, has received only one complaint since the fees were adopted, he said.
But a spokesman for the Florida Insurance Council predicted the practice will invariably force up insurance premiums. 'I'm not saying it will mean huge increases, but it will be passed along to consumers,' said Sam Miller, the council's vice president.
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