Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

North Las Vegas Fire Department to charge fee for false alarms

William Robinson

William Robinson

Shari Buck

Shari Buck

North Las Vegas passed an ordinance Wednesday night that will allow the fire department to begin charging a fee for responding to false alarms.

The measure, put in place for cost recovery, will allow the fire department to bill residents. But the money would be expected to come from the insurance companies residents already pay to cover the costs, not the residents themselves, Fire Chief Al Gillespie said.

Mayor Pro Tempore William Robinson expressed concerns that the charges could be passed on to residents.

“In fact, that’s a really good question that has been part of the concern as this has been going on around the country,” Gillespie said during his presentation to the council. “If we don’t collect, it goes back to the insurance company.”

Most insurance companies have a cap on what they pay for those fees, Gillespie said. On average, he said, it’s about $500 per incident.

The fees, he said, wouldn’t impact residents’ insurance premiums because it’s the event, not the fee, that would cause rates to rise.

Originally, the ordinance included provisions that would also charge fees on vehicle fires and some rescues. Robertson and Councilman Robert Eliason both voted against the ordinance.

If it had passed in its full form, with vehicle fires and some rescues included, the measure would have brought in more than $200,000 from the fees this fiscal year.

“I just have a concern for the whole thing,” Eliason said. “I guess I look back and I believe that the general public believes that they pay their taxes for a reason — to get these services without being billed for them.”

“Salaries have got out of line, and we’re doing this to cover salaries,” he said. “I struggle with that.”

Eliason said he worried the ordinance would lead to a slippery slope, with the police department wanting to charge fees next.

Anita Wood, who voted in favor of the ordinance, said she wanted to make sure the public was fully informed and had a chance to give input before the council voted to charge fees on rescues and vehicle fires.

Mayor Shari Buck said she was in favor of the ordinance, especially because it would deter people from calling in false alarms.

“When we have our men and women going to these alarms, they’re using resources and also putting themselves in danger,” Buck said. “We should be doing something to try to correct those problems.”

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