Norman City Council discussed implementing a cost recovery system for fire department responses during its study session Tuesday night.
The proposed system would bill insurance companies and potentially at-fault individuals for motor vehicle incidents that require a fire department response. Other incidents, such as hazmat situations and certain fires, could also be subject to cost recovery measures.
Norman Fire Department Deputy Chief Joel Chesser, who presented at the study session, clarified that nearly all department responses to houses would not be billed.
“Fire recovery doesn’t do any medical or what we call ‘public assist’-type billing,” Chesser said.
The system would be developed in partnership with Fire Recovery USA, which would also administer the program. The California-based company provides billing services to over 1,900 departments across 43 states, including departments in Tulsa and Guthrie, according to its website.
According to estimates listed in the presentation, the system would likely generate $182,621 annually for NFD within two years of the system’s implementation. However, according to Chesser’s presentation, current staffing at the department is unable to absorb additional administrative duties.
“I want to make sure that we're recouping the cost of added time to the fire department to administer (the system),” Mayor Stephen Tyler Holman said.
The meeting left several questions unanswered, including which incidents to include in the cost recovery system and whether to charge insured drivers and uninsured motorists equally.
“We’ll do some homework. We didn’t hear a, ‘Heck no,’” City Manager Darrel Pyle said. “It doesn’t have to be done tomorrow. … This is absolutely something we can work on in the spring.”
This story was edited by Spencer Windholz.
