New fire fees for going out of district

Under a new ordinance that takes effect Sept. 14, people with residences outside the Weaverville Fire Protection District and neighboring fire districts will receive a bill if Weaverville firefighters respond to an emergency at their home.

District commissioners voted last week to adopt the new fees.

"The idea of the whole thing is to try to recoup some of the expense of going out of the district," said Commissioner George Owen.

The district receives a small percentage of the property tax for property within the district totaling $200,000 annually. A $15 per residence benefit assessment on properties in the district brings in $30,000 annually.

People paying those taxes "shouldn't be supporting people outside their own district," Owen said.

Weaverville firefighters respond to approximately 50 calls a year outside the district. It takes a toll.

"With the small number of volunteers, there are a fi- nite number of calls they can respond to," Commissioner Mike Williams said.

Depending on their homeowner's insurance and the nature of the call, the recipients of these bills may not have to pay the costs out of pocket. For example, State Farm Agent Kevin Cahill said the insurance company will pay up to $500 for a response to any threat or damage to property involving a covered loss.

The out-of-district fees would not apply to responses within the boundaries of bordering fire districts for mutual aid calls, such as Junction City, Lewiston and Douglas City. Those districts reciprocate by sending help to Weaverville when needed, Owen noted.

The ordinance also seeks reimbursement for the response cost for false alarm calls and alarm malfunctions, starting with the fourth occurrence and continuing with each instance thereafter.

The fee issue was investigated by a committee which reported to the commissioners with recommendations that the commissioners have approved.

Fees to be charged for personnel range from $20 per hour for each firefighter to $27 per hour for the fire chief.

There are also fees for apparatus responding to out-ofdistrict calls, from $56 per day for the rescue vehicle to $56 per hour for most of the engines. A full schedule of the new fees is printed in the legal section of this week's Trinity Journal.