Published: March 22, 2008 08:01 pm         

City considers fire department fees

Proposal calls for services to be charged

DANVILLE — Budget discussions will continue Tuesday, including a proposal review to charge fees for fire department services.

Mayor Scott Eisenhauer said he’s meeting with firefighters prior to Tuesday about the proposal.

The proposed fees for fire and emergency medical services runs were not distributed in aldermen agenda packets, but will be presented Tuesday night, he said.

After more budget “tweaking,” Eisenhauer said $310,000 is now needed for this fiscal year to fund the nine firefighters that have been cut out of the city’s 2008-09 fiscal year budget.

But more funding will be needed in future years to keep up with increased expenses.

A public hearing on the budget will be April 1, followed by placement of it on file for public review.

The city council will take final action on the budget April 15 for it to take effect May 1.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich in 2003 signed House Bill 120 that allows fire protection districts to charge non-residents, who do not already pay for fire services, for fire and emergency services received.

According to the bill, a municipality may provide firefighting and EMS on property outside its corporate limits thereby allowing them to fix, charge and collect fees not exceeding the actual cost of the service rendered. The municipality also may levy an additional charge to reimburse for extraordinary expenses.

Charges are not to exceed $125 per hour per vehicle and not exceed $35 per hour per firefighter responding to a call for assistance. And no charges should be made for services totaling less than $50.

In other business, the public services committee:

Will review 2007 work comp and general liability claims.

Human Resources Manager Sherri Johnson said the city has a safety committee that regularly reviews them, but it wanted aldermen to also be aware of the higher claims.

The highest amount of 2007 work comp claims were in the fire department, totaling $147,739.

Incidents included: strained shoulder while lifting weights on a Bowflex machine, $63,419; a strained knee while exiting vehicle, $38,536; broken wrist during fall on stairs at station, $14,664; fractured thumb while crawling during academy training, $7,845; knee strain, possible fracture, missed step while climbing down ladder, $4,503; smashed thumb in fire truck door, $4,452; and blisters on feet from ill-fitting boots, $109.

Of the 83 claims that totaled $281,461 in payments, the second highest was the police department with $77,049.

Incidents included: fracture and other injuries to knee during arrest, $40,053; knee strained when officer stepped on raised meter lid, $17,583; dog bite to arm by K9 after apprehending suspect, $10,743; and sprain/cut thumb during fall down stairs, $1,269.

Another incident occurred in the sewer department, staph infection from exposure to sewage during line repair, $28,350.

In 2007 there also were 118 general liability claims, costing $96,574.

Several claims of pothole damage to vehicles were denied.

The largest expense was when a police officer didn’t see a car and pulled into intersection. The cost was $32,962.

Will not act on a tax increment financing agreement yet with Courtesy Ford–Lincoln–Mercury.

The car dealership is looking to expand its current location, 231 W. Main St., into the entire square block between Main, North, Franklin and Pine streets, with a Dodge dealership and the addition of 10 to 15 more jobs.

Public Development Director John Heckler said he received a copy of another draft agreement from Courtesy Ford officials last week.

Reviews continue to move forward to reach a finalized agreement, he said.



WHAT’S NEXT

The Danville City Council’s Public Services Committee will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Robert E. Jones Municipal Building, 17 W. Main St.