Rocky View County council’s new cost-recovery bylaw came under fire last week after a couple received a $25,000 bill from the fire department for dousing flames on their farm last July.
The bylaw, approved last March, was created to recover costs for people who require emergency services.
“With a new bylaw, the first thing we do is find out how that bylaw is working,” said Reeve Rolly Ashdown during an interview with the media Feb. 6. “We just discovered that bylaw isn’t working well.”
He said staff “made an error” in sending the bill for personnel and equipment use for the July 27 fire, which destroyed five buildings and said the bill has since been revoked.
“The billing shouldn’t have been sent out in the first place,” he said adding “nobody realized insurance wasn’t going to cover it.”
Ruth Hixt, who lives east of Beiseker said it took almost an hour for fire services to respond to the fire that started on her historic farm, the Grande Ole West Villa Ranche. The fire was sparked by a lightening strike.
She said the last thing she expected was a bill, which arrived in her mailbox Feb. 4.
“It wasn’t a good piece of mail,” said Hixt.
“We weren’t expecting it at all. We were told there would be no bills,” Hixt said of what the fire chief told her when they were at the fire last July.
Hixt said they didn’t have insurance coverage on some of the historic buildings because it was too old to qualify for insurance.
Ashdown said going forward, the County will implement a three-step process to try and avoid this happening again.
He said first staff will review fire services bills before they are sent. If they are sent and the homeowner disagrees, he or she can then contact the County and ask for it to be reviewed again.
If staff can’t make a decision, the issue will come to council. Council can decide to uphold the bill, eliminate or reduce the bill.
“The idea isn’t to make emergency services something people will hesitate to use,” said Ashdown.
“There is a portion of people’s taxes that goes to pay for emergency services in the county and we don’t want anybody in a position where they can’t access the service that is available.”
When asked how the County will make a decision on whether or not to bill a homeowner, Ashdown said there is no rules or policy set in place.
He said in the situation of the Hixt, their place was hit by lightening, at no fault of their own and it took a while for the fire station to get there because they were at another fire.
“If it’s something that happens that isn’t their fault, like freak accident or lightning strike, people shouldn’t have to pay.
“If it’s something sneaky where person sneaks out and sets a fire and someone else sees them doing it, I think it’s justifiable if the County sends them a bill,” said Ashdown. He added if the homeowner has insurance, it’s reasonable to ask them to submit their bill to their insurer.
Meanwhile, Hixt said she hopes this is a lesson for the County.
“I was completely unaware of the new cost recovering that was in place,” she said.
“I think a lot of taxpayers are unaware. This is a learning opportunity for everyone.”
