MOVE UNPAID EMERGENCY SERVICE FEES TO TAX ROLLS

House Bill 4192

Sponsor: Rep. Stephen Ehardt

Committee: Local Government and Urban Policy

Complete to 2-21-01

A SUMMARY OF HOUSE BILL 4192 AS INTRODUCED 2-13-01

House Bill 4192 would amend the act authorizing the collection of fees for certain emergency services in townships and other municipalities to allow local units of government to collect unpaid fees by placing delinquent service fees on the tax roll.

Under current law, the legislative body of a municipality providing emergency police or fire service, or the legislative bodies of municipalities acting jointly to provide such a service, may authorize by ordinance the collection of service fees. Likewise, a township board or a county board of commissioners providing emergency ambulance and inhalator service, either alone or jointly with another municipality, may authorize services fees by ordinance.

Under the bill, a municipality or the county board of commissioners of a county could write their service fee ordinances to annually certify fees delinquent for three or more months to the property tax collecting officer, to be entered in a separate column on the next tax roll against the designated property owned by the person responsible for payment of the fee for service. Further, the ordinance could provide that the amounts entered on the tax roll became a lien against the designated property owned by the person responsible for payment of the fee. However, a delinquent fee could not be entered on the tax roll against, nor could a lien be imposed on, property owned by a person who was not responsible for payment of the fee.

In addition, House Bill 4192 specifies that if a fee-for-service entered on the tax roll was not paid before March 1, the fee would be returned as delinquent to the county treasurer and collected in the same manner as provided for delinquent taxes under the General Property Tax Act. However, property would not be subject to forfeiture, foreclosure, and sale for

nonpayment of the fee-for-service, unless the property was also subject to sale for delinquent property taxes.

Finally, the bill specifies that these provisions would not limit the authority of the municipality or county to collect a fee by any other means authorized by law for the collection of a debt.

The bill would define "designated property" to mean real property for which fire service was provided or at which emergency ambulance and inhalator services were provided. The bill would define "person responsible for payment of the fee for service" to mean one of the following: a) for fire service, an owner of the designated property; and b) for emergency ambulance and inhalator services, an owner of the designated property if the person who


received the emergency ambulance and inhalator services was an owner of the designated property or was a dependent of an owner of the designated property.

The bill also would define "emergency ambulance and inhalator services" to include medical first response life support services provided by a fire department. Under the bill "fire service" means firefighting services and does not include medical first response life support services. "Medical first response life supports" would mean that term as defined in the Public Health Code.

MCL 41.806a

Analyst: J. Hunault

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This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan House staff for use by House members in their deliberations, and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.