By MES Dispatch staff
The Briefing
- • Waterford Township, Michigan fire officials are proposing to charge elder care facilities fees for repeat non‑emergency fire and emergency medical service responses.
- • The proposal would amend the township’s cost‑recovery ordinance to require facilities to pay for non‑emergency calls after the first five in a calendar year.
- • Non‑emergency responses cited include lift assists, non‑emergency transports and false alarms, officials said.
- • The Township Board of Trustees is scheduled to consider the measure at a Jan. 26 meeting.
WATERFORD TWP., MI — Waterford Township fire officials are proposing an amendment to the local cost‑recovery ordinance that would require elder care facilities to pay for repeated non‑emergency responses by fire and EMS personnel, township leaders said.
Fire Chief Matthew Nye told the Township Board of Trustees that the department has seen a “measurable increase” in non‑emergency calls from assisted living and other elder care facilities, including lift assistance, non‑emergency transport and false alarm responses, according to a memo presented at a board meeting.
Under the proposed policy, facilities would be allowed five free non‑emergency responses per calendar year before fees are imposed for additional calls. Costs not paid within 60 days could be added to the facility’s property taxes, Township Director of Development Services Jeffrey Polkowski said.
Firefighters responding to calls would determine whether a call qualified as an emergency under the ordinance, and facilities would have the option to appeal charges they believe were issued in error, officials said.
Similar ordinances have been implemented in other Michigan communities such as Sterling Heights and Bloomfield Township, Polkowski told trustees. The township board is scheduled to consider adopting the amendment at a Jan. 26 meeting.