HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrd 2642 - Amending Title 6 of the Redding Municipal Code by adding Chapter 6.18 relating to establishing a fee for emergency medical response by the Redding Fire DepartmentORDINANCE NO. 2642
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF REDDING AMENDING TITLE 6
(BUSINESS TAXES, LICENSES AND REGULATIONS) OF THE
REDDING MUNICIPAL CODE BY ADDING CHAPTER 6.18
(EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE FIRST RESPONDER FEE)
RELATING TO ESTABLISHING A FEE FOR EMERGENCY MEDICAL
RESPONSE BY THE REDDING FIRE DEPARTMENT
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF REDDING DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Title 6 of the Redding Municipal Code is amended to add Chapter 6.18
with a title to read as follows:
EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE FIRST RESPONDER FEE
Sections:
6.18.010
Definitions.
6.18.020
Emergency medical services first responder fee.
6.18.030
Fee Collection.
6.18.040
No effect on emergency medical first responder services.
6.18.050
Non-exclusive remedy.
6.18.060
Appeal.
Section 2. Title 6 of the Redding Municipal Code is amended to add Section
6.18.010 through 6.18.060, inclusive, to Chapter 6.18 to read as follows:
Section 6.18.010 Definitions.
For purposes of this Chapter, the following definitions apply:
A. "Emergency Medical Services" means special services designed to provide definitive
prehospital emergency medical care including, but not limited to, cardiopulmonary
resuscitation, cardiac defibrillation, airway management, administration of specified
drugs, and other techniques and procedures administered by authorized personnel.
B. "Emergency medical services first responder fee" means the fee established pursuant to
this Chapter and charged to each recipient to whom the Fire Department provides
emergency medical services.
C. "Insurer" means the recipient's medical insurance provider.
D. "Recipient" means the person to whom the city provides emergency medical services.
Section 6.18.020 Emergency medical service first responder fee.
A. The City Council shall, by resolution, adopt an emergency medical services first
responder fee to recover the reasonable costs incurred by the Fire Department in
providing emergency medical services and the reasonable costs to administer the fee.
B. The emergency medical service first responder fee shall be charged to each recipient
and/or a recipient's insurer, whether a city resident or nonresident, who receives
emergency medical services from the Fire Department during a single incident.
Section 6.18.030 Fee collection.
A. Policies for Discharging Accountability.
1. The Fire Chief, or designee, will develop policies and procedures for invoicing,
billing, and receiving payments for each fee charged under this Chapter and will
coordinate the administration of said fee with any contracted third party service
provider, if applicable. The policies and procedures will include a process to
discharge from accountability accounts that are not collectible.
2. The Fire Chief, or designee, may establish a compassionate billing policy. Such
policy may include waiver of the emergency medical services first responder fee
for recipients who qualify under the compassionate billing policy.
3. The City shall accept the payment from the insurer as the full payment for the
recipient's emergency medical services first responder fee obligation.
B. The Fire Chief, or designee, may delegate all or some of the tasks required for the
administration of the emergency medical services first responder fee. Administration of
the emergency medical services first responder fee will consist of tasks including, but not
limited to, tracking of emergency medical services provided by the Fire Department,
identification of financially responsible parties, calculation of total fees to be charged,
invoicing and payment collection, and the processing of waiver requests and appeals, if
permitted.
C. When the Fire Department provides emergency medical services to a person, the Finance
Department, or a contracted third party service provider, shall bill the recipient and the
insurer, if any, for payment of the emergency medical services first responder fee. In the
case of a minor, the Finance Department shall invoice the parent or guardian of the
recipient who received the services and the insurer if the person, or his or her
representative, has identified to the Finance Department the insurer to which the invoice
should be sent.
Section 6.18.040 No effect on emergency medical first responder services.
This Chapter neither expands nor limits services. These services will continue to be provided
without regard to whether a person is insured by an insurer, has the ability to pay the emergency
medical services first responder fee, or has or has not paid the emergency medical services first
responder fee in the past.
Section 6.18.050 Non-exclusive remedy.
Notwithstanding the provisions of this Chapter, the City shall not be prevented from taking any
other civil or criminal action to abate the acts constituting a violation of this Chapter, and all
remedies at law and in equity remain reserved to the City.
Section 6.18.060 Appeal.
A. Any recipient wishing to contest an invoice regarding the emergency medical services
first responder fee imposed under this Chapter must submit a written request for
reconsideration to the Fire Chief explaining the reasons for requesting a reconsideration
within thirty (30) calendar days of the date of receiving the invoice for the emergency
medical services first responder fee. The Fire Chief will review the written request, make
a final decision on the request, and notify the party in writing within thirty (30) calendar
days of receiving the request to reconsider.
B. If the aggrieved party is unhappy with the Fire Chief's decision, the party may appeal to
the city manager, or his or her designee, by filing a written notice with the city clerk
within fourteen (14) calendar days of the fire chiefs written notice of decision.
Section 3. Severability. If any section, subsection, subdivision, paragraph, sentence,
clause or phrase of this Ordinance, or its application to any person or circumstance, is for any
reason held to be invalid or unenforceable, such invalidity or unenforceability shall not affect the
validity or enforceability of the remaining sections, subsections, subdivisions, paragraphs,
sentences, clauses or phrases of this Ordinance, or its application to any person or circumstance.
The City Council of the City of Redding hereby declares that it would have adopted each section,
subsection subdivision paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase hereof, irrespective of the fact that
any one or more other sections, subsections subdivisions paragraphs, sentences, clauses or
phrases hereof be declared invalid or unenforceable.
Section 4. The City of Redding finds that this Ordinance is not a "project" according
to the definition set forth in the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA"), and, pursuant
to CEQA Guidelines sections 15060(c)(2) (the activity will not result in a direct or reasonably
foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment) and 15061(b)(3) (there is no possibility
the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment), the adoption of this
ordinance is therefore not subject to the provisions requiring environmental review.
I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing ordinance was introduced and read by the City
Council at a regular meeting on the 20th day of July, 2021; and was duly read and adopted at a
regular meeting on the 3rd day of August, 2021, by the following vote:
AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: Mezzano, Schreder, Winter, and Resner
NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: Daquisto
ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS: None
ABSTAIN: COUNCIL MEMBERS: None
ATTEST:
PAMELA M ZE, Ci Ie—r—k
N D. IkESNER, Mayor
FORM APPROVED:
BARRY' E. De A T, City At orney