Altoona to consider charging non-residents for emergency services

Tuesday, December 19, 2017
Amanda Tyler | WEAU

ALTOONA, Wis. (WEAU)-- The City of Altoona is looking to make a change when it comes to its fire services. In an effort to ensure tax payers and the city aren't stuck footing the bill for emergency services provided to people who don't live in Altoona and don't pay taxes in the city, the fire chief is going to the city council with a proposal on Thursday.

The proposal calls for the city to start charging a fee to calls for service to non-tax payers or for calls for costly services. With calls for emergency service in Altoona growing, Fire Chief Mark Renderman is faced with a dilemma of how to help the city and taxpayers.

"There are other areas in the state that charge for calls and this is one way to keep the tax levy lower," Renderman explained.

Chief Renderman says that residents and tax payers are currently paying for the cost of the responses where the city may not be reimbursed and in some cases. He says those expenses can add up quickly. Renderman points to a case last June where crews battled a fire on a trailer hauling hay for hours. The owner of that vehicle was not from Altoona.

"We could end up with charges in the excess of thousands of dollars for any specific type of incident and those charges vary from call to call," he explained.

Looking around the area, other departments say they've had discussions about charging non-residents for service but they decided against it. Both the Eau Claire Fire Department and Township Fire Department don't send bills to non-residents for emergency service.

Renderman says he stands behind the proposal as a way to ensure tax payers aren't stuck footing the extra costs on top of paying into fire protection on their property taxes.

"I think this will be good for the tax payers to control the rising cost for fire protection costs. Fire protection costs have been rising every year and this is another way to generate more revenue to take the heat off the tax payer," he said.

The proposed fees start at $500 for a fire call plus additional money for equipment, labor, water charges and supplies. If approved by the Altoona City Council on Thursday, the fees would go into effect January 1, 2018.

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