City Code, ExplainedBetaPardon our dust while we build this out — expect some changes along the way.

This chapter covers the city's Department of Public Safety (which oversees the Bureau of Fire and firefighting personnel) and sets out how the city recovers costs when it or others respond to hazardous material releases, spills, or similar emergencies ("extraordinary services").

Who this affects

It affects the Director of Public Safety's authority over fire department personnel and property, and it affects any "owner, agent or manager of the vehicle or fixed facility" responsible for an incident requiring extraordinary services (such as a hazardous material spill), who may be billed for the costs.

Key rules

• The Director of Public Safety supervises the Bureau of Fire, its buildings and property, the Fire Chief, paid or appointed fire officers/employees, the fire alarm system, and other personnel involved in public safety.
• "Extraordinary expenses" and "extraordinary services" are defined to cover costs of monitoring, extinguishing, confining, neutralizing, containing, cleaning, or removing hazardous materials, and costs of protective actions like evacuations.
• Fees and costs, including overhead, must cover all personnel, equipment, materials, and maintenance expenses to ensure full reimbursement from the responsible public or private party.
• No separate fee schedule needs to be formally adopted; City Council approval of this section authorizes the Mayor to collect such fees based on submitted expenditures.
• Affected public agencies, departments, or private companies must submit their extraordinary-service-related costs to City Council within 30 days of the occurrence.
• The City Council must bill the responsible owner, agent, or manager within 60 days of determining the combined cost, and demand full remittance within 30 days of receipt.
• In cases of hardship, the City Solicitor may negotiate an extended payback period not to exceed six months.
• All money collected under this Article goes into the General Fund, which then reimburses the public and private agencies that provided the extraordinary service.
• The city may enforce collection through civil action, including recovery of attorneys' fees or other appropriate relief.
• The city may not refuse or delay emergency services to anyone who has not reimbursed it for prior extraordinary services, and normal municipal services provided to residents as part of general operations are not subject to this reimbursement demand.

Penalties

The city may pursue "civil action in a court of competent jurisdiction for the collection of any amounts due hereunder plus attorneys fees or for any other relief that may be appropriate."

Notable and archaic details

• The chapter explicitly guarantees that emergency services will not be refused or delayed due to unpaid extraordinary-service bills, and clarifies that routine municipal services residents already pay for through taxes are not billed separately under this Article.