BONNYVILLE – An old MD of Bonnyville policy created back in 1993, the Fire Suppression and Cost Recovery Policy, has been freshened up and will be in effect as of May 1, 2023.
The municipality’s Policy No. 5C.001 Fire Suppression and Cost Recovery has been on the books for nearly 30 years, but when it came to recovering costs from residents impacted by fires the policy was overlooked more often than not.
However, things will change for MD residents after May 1 following policy revisions approved by council during a regular council meeting on Jan. 24. These changes clearly identify the process for billing, communication methods between involved parties, and other administrative procedures.
In November, council passed the 2023 Operating Budget that called for $250,000 of annual revenue to be generated through the policy for fire services provided by the Bonnyville Regional Fire Authority (BRFA) to MD ratepayers.
Once the updated policy takes effect, the BRFA will have to complete a cost recovery report that identifies the resources used for fire suppression within the MD. The municipality will use that report to invoice residents for fire services.
The municipality’s Master Rates Bylaw states that the presence of a full-time BRFA staff member on site of a fire would be billed at a rate of $45 per person, per hour. The cost of volunteer firefighters is $35 per hour, per volunteer.
When it comes to the cost of apparatuses used for fire suppression, the municipality will charge the same rates used by Alberta Transportation for response fees.
Ladder and pumper trucks will be billed at $650 per hour. The use of light and medium rescue vehicles will also be billed at $650 per hour.
Council debates policy changes
While the changes to the Fire Suppression and Cost Recovery Policy were ultimately approved by council, discussions on whether fire suppression is a municipal service or should be covered through residents’ personal insurance policies took place.
Coun. Mike Krywiak made his stance clear when he stated, “I don't agree with charging for fire services.”
Krywiak proposed the idea that council include a clause stating that residents impacted by fire could not be charged more than their insurance coverage provided for.
While this proposed amendment sparked further debate, the municipality’s Director of Public Safety Luis Gandolfi stated that the new draft policy has an appeals and special consideration section that allows the homeowner or the landowner to appeal the fire suppression invoice.
"It's ultimately council's decision if that bill is going to have to be paid or not,” said Gandolfi.
CAO Al Hoggan added that once the updated policy goes into effect, council might expect one or two appeals a year seeking a bill to be waived entirely or partially.
“I'm a little bit torn,” said Coun. Darcy Skarsen. “I guess my only concern is I would hate for anyone to ever have to pay out of pocket for something that they are essentially paying out of pocket for already. So, if we are 100 per cent confident that someone could get reprieve from being billed, then I'm in favour.”
Both Deputy Reeve Ben Fadeyiw and Coun. Don Slipchuck agreed with the revised policy, noting that most residents have insurance policies that include fire services.
“I believe that we should be charging for these fires. Most people have the policies in place,” said Slipchuk. “And those that don't have insurance, well they'll have to come forward. But if they have taken that risk, that's upon them, not the rest of the taxpayers.”
Slipchuk added he would like to see the municipality educate residents on the upcoming policy changes prior to them taking effect this spring.
Hoggan added, “The BRFA is essentially our contractor, and they provide us a service. We pay BRFA a requisition on an annual basis to provide that service and all we're trying to do through this is recover some of the requisition through insurance dollars to offset our fairly large contribution to the fire service.”
Before the discussion wrapped up, Coun. Dana Swigart pointed out that neither the Town of Bonnyville nor City of Cold charge for fire services.
Swigart acknowledged that in the past, he told residents that the municipality did not charge for fire suppression because it was a part of ratepayers' taxes. "So, I guess we're going away from that.”
“I'm not in favour of it but I'm not 100 per cent against it,” Swigart said. “I wish this was more black and white, but it's not.”
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