Disclaimer
This consolidation of The Nation Municipality’s Fire Department Fees and Charges By-law #51-2020 as amended by By-law #98-2020, is prepared for reference purposes only. While The Nation Municipality makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information contained herein, the reader is advised that as this publication is an office consolidation, in situations where legal accuracy is important, the By-law itself and any amending by-laws thereto must be consulted. Original by-laws are available for consultation at The Nation Municipality's Town Hall. For legal purposes, certified copies of the said By-laws, can be obtained from the Clerk's Office of The Nation Municipality.
This consolidation of the Fire Department Fees and Charges By-law is current to October 19, 2020
BEING A BYLAW permitting the fire department to impose user fees and charges for services or activities stemming from the fire department.
WHEREAS pursuant to the Municipal Act, 2001, S.O. 2001, c. 25, Part XII, section 391 (1.1) (the "Municipal Act"), as amended, provides that the Municipality may adopt a bylaw on the user fees and expenses;
WHEREAS pursuant to section 8 of the Municipal Act, the powers of a municipality are to be interpreted broadly as to confer broad authority on the municipality to enable the municipality to govern its affairs as it considered appropriate and to enhance the municipality's ability to respond to municipal issues;
WHEREAS provisions of the Municipal Act, 2001, Part XIV, section 446 as amended, provides that the fees and charges imposed by a municipality on a person constitutes a debt of the person to the municipality and the Treasurer may add these fees and charges to the tax roll for any property for which all of the owners are responsible for paying the fees and charges, and collect them in the same manner as municipal taxes;
AND WHEREAS Part VIII, section 35 of the "Fire Protection and Prevention Act 1997 S.O. 1997 , as amended, provides that the Fire Chief or an assistant of the Fire Marshall may impose the fees and charges for services or activities stemming from a fire department.
NOW THEREFORE the Council of The Nation Municipality ENACTS the following:
1. In this Bylaw:
- a) "Approved" means approved by the municipal council;
- b) "Assistant to the Fire Marshal" means a person designated by the Office of the Fire Marshal under Subsection 11(1), 5(a)(b)(c)(d) of the "Fire Protection and Prevention Act 1997O. 1997;
- c) "Council" means the Council for the Corporation of The Nation Municipality;
- d) "Corporation" means the Corporation of The Nation Municipality;
- e) "Indemnification Technology®" shall mean Fire Department incident reporting, data collection and property insurance policy wording interpretation to maximize billing opportunities on behalf of fire departments by invoicing insurance companies for costs of fire department attendance with respect to insured perils;
- f) "Fire Chief" means a the person appointed by the Council of the municipality under subsection 6 (1), (2), or (4) of the Fire Protection and Prevention Act1997O. 1997;
- g) "Owner" means the registered owner of property or any person, firm, corporation, partnership or society and their heirs, executors, administrators or other legal representatives, including a property manager, tenant, occupant, mortgagee in possession, receiver, manager, trustee or trustee in bankruptcy having control over or possession of the property or any portion thereof;
- h) "Property" means any real property located within the geographical boundaries of the Municipality, and any real property to which the Fire Department is under a service agreement to provide Fire Department Response services, Automatic Aid or Mutual Aid. Real property includes buildings, contents and structures of any nature and kind in or upon such lands to which service is provided;
- i) "The Nation Fire Department" means the Fire Department for the Corporation of The Nation Municipality and being a fire department within the meaning of the Fire Protection and Prevention Act 1997O. 1997, as amended;
2. The Nation Municipality shall impose fees, as set out in Schedule "A" attached, for services or activities provided, done by or on behalf of The Nation Fire Department and those fees constitute a debt of the person to the municipality.
3. The Municipality may use Indemnification Technology® to assess applicable insurance coverage for Fire Department Specific Response Fees.
4. Where the Municipality believes and/or Indemnification Technology® indicates Fire Department Specific Response Fees are applicable but the Owner does not have, in part or in full, insurance coverage for fire department charges for the Property, the Municipality may adjust the Fire Department Specific Response Fees to the extent of insurance coverage upon provision by the Owner of evidence, to the satisfaction of the Municipality, that no such insurance coverage exists or to demonstrate the limits of such coverage.
5. In this By-Law, words importing the neuter gender shall include the feminine gender and masculine gender and vice versa and words importing the singular shall include the plural where the context requires.
6. Schedule "A" shall be deemed to be part of this By-law.
7. The Owner of property to which services or activities set out in Schedule "A" are provided or done by The Nation Fire Department, regardless of whether requested by the Owner or an agent of the Owner and invoiced to the Owner by The Nation Municipality, shall pay the fees imposed for such service or activity;
8. If a property Owner who is charged a fee under this By-law fails to pay the fee within the prescribed time for payment as set out in the invoice, the Municipality may add the fee, including interest, to the tax roll of any real property registered in the name of the Owner and collect the fee, including interest, in the same manner as municipal taxes. Collection costs for unpaid fees and charges may be added to the original costs.
9. Where there is more than one Owner, their liability for payment shall be joint and several.
- 9.1 The Property Owner has the right to ask for a review of the charged fees if the amount of the invoice is greater than $10 000.00 before taxes. Steps to do so are listed in Schedule "A" of this By-law.
10. The fees listed in Schedule "A" of this By-law are in Canadian dollars and will be subject to Harmonized Sales Tax (H.S.T.) and a 5% administration charge where applicable.
11. Should any part of this By-law, including any part in Schedule "A", be determined by a Court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid or of no force and effect, it is the stated intention of Council that such invalid part of the By-law shall be severable and that the remainder of this By-law including the remainder of Schedule "A", as applicable, shall continue to operate and to be in force and effect.
12. The By-laws number 148-2015 and 77-2018 are repealed.
That this By-Law comes into effect on the day it is adopted by Municipal Council.
Schedule “A”
| Service | Fee |
|---|---|
| 1. File Search | |
| $80.00 |
| 2. On-Site Inspections For initial and final inspections only | |
| a) Residential | $75.00 per inspection |
| b) Apartment | $75.00 + $25.00 per unit |
c) Hotel/Motel
| $200.00 $20.00 per unit |
d) Commercial and industrial properties
| $200.00 $25.00 per square foot |
| e) Daycares | $100.00 |
| f) All other additional non-compliant inspections | $50.00 |
| 3. Accreditation Inspections | |
| $150.00 |
| 4. Inspections for Liquor Licence Applications | $150.00 |
| 5. Fire Prevention Courses, Fire Extinguishers, Evacuations and Fire Simulations | |
| 0 to 10 people | Cost of materials plus: $250.00 |
| Over 11 people | Cost of materials plus: $250.00 $5.00 per person |
| 6. Fire Department Responses Residential fires, commercial fires, industrial fires, vehicle fires, boat fires, recreational vehicle fires, motor vehicle accidents, spills, water or ice rescues and all other fire department requests, whether urgent or non-urgent. | As per fees established by the Ministry of Transportation. |
| 7. Fire Guard Required or upon request. | One fire apparatus and two firefighters: $200.00 per hour |
| 8. Inspections of Refreshment Vehicles Inspections of refreshment vehicles or food trucks, commonly known as chip wagons. | $100.00 |
| 9. False Alarms Within one calendar year | |
| First false alarm | No charge |
| Second false alarm | $200.00 |
| All subsequent false alarms | $1,000.00 |
| After the third false alarm, a notice will request proof of a recent annual inspection certificate for the alarm system, as prescribed by the Ontario Fire Code, within 30 days of the request. | |
| 10. Fire Prevention and Public Education Inspections Inspections initiated under the Fire Department’s fire prevention and public education program. | No charge |
| 11. Propane Gas Distribution Site Review Review and approval of a propane gas distribution site, as required by the Technical Standards and Safety Authority. | |
| Level 1 | $350.00 |
| Level 2 | $1,000.00 |
| Inspection fees as outlined in Item 2(d) | |
| 12. Fire Code Violations | |
| As per the fees established under the Provincial Offences Act, R.S.O. 1990. |
| 13. 100% Cost Recovery | |
| 100% cost recovery |
| 14. Get Out Alive Prevention Campaign | |
| Under the Get Out Alive prevention campaign, all costs associated with replacing batteries and smoke detectors will be billed and recovered at cost. | 100% cost recovery |
15. Fire Department Specific Response Fees a) Current MTO rate per unit per hour or portion thereof for each unit. b) The rate per person, per hour or portion thereof, for each firefighter. c) Other costs, including but not limited to foam, metered water, air tank refilling, cleaning equipment, DSPA or similar type units, the cost of replacing damaged or destroyed equipment and specialized response costs such as water bomber drops. The Ministry of Transportation rate per unit, per hour is established by the Ministry of Transportation. This rate is adjusted periodically in accordance with the Consumer Price Index. Such fees shall be charged and calculated on the basis of each Fire Department vehicle attending the incident and the resources consumed in responding to the property incident. Time shall be measured from the departure of each unit from the Fire Department’s facilities until the unit is cleared and available for the next call. | |
| 16. Steps for Review of Charges The property owner must send an email or letter to the Municipal Clerk stating which charges they wish to have reviewed, along with a recommendation regarding the desired outcome of the review. | |