Billing for Services

The Georgetown City Council passed an ordinance authorizing fire service cost recovery from insurance providers on January 2001. Fees for fire services are not assessed in response to fires at single family homes, though commercial insurance providers used by apartment owners would be billed after apartment fires. In billing insurance providers for fire services, Georgetown follows the lead of other cities in the area, including: Cedar Park, Leander, Liberty Hill, Pflugerville, Jollyville, and San Angelo. More than 25 fire departments in Central Texas and 150 in the state are recovering costs of service from insurance providers.

The trend of insurance billing is one way for fire departments to maintain services to growing populations whose tax revenues have not kept pace with service demands. Georgetown built a new fire station in Sun City in 1998 and another just north of the municipal airport in 2001 to provide service for the thousands of new residents in those areas.

Adding to the financial squeeze for the Fire Department is the “two in, two out” law passed by the State Legislature in the last session, mandating four firefighters on the scene before they can enter a structure. The new law means the Georgetown Fire Department must increase staffing levels around-the-clock and 365 days a year at its four fire stations.

While billing insurance companies for fire services will help ease the financial pressure on the Fire Department, the program does not seek to recover costs from citizens or business owners themselves. The billing company sends a courtesy copy of the fee invoice to individuals for whom service was provided, but this is only to inform the individual the Fire Department has billed their insurance provider. For individuals with health insurance, their companies will be billed at a flat rate of $300.00 for medical 9-1-1 calls. In the event of motor vehicle accidents, auto insurance coverage for fire service is included in most policies.

Exceptions to the billing program include fees not assessed to insurance companies for structure fires in single-family homes. In addition, those on Medicaid or Medicare, or those without health insurance, will not be billed for medical 9-1-1 calls involving Fire Department personnel.

Only in unusual cases such as risk-taking behavior and malicious acts like arson or deliberate false alarms, or repeated alarm malfunctions would someone be personally liable for costs of fire service above the amount paid by insurance. Rafting in the rushing floodwaters of the San Gabriel River is an example of such risk-taking behavior that unnecessarily endangers the lives of emergency rescue personnel.

For additional questions, contact the Georgetown Fire Department at 512-930-FIRE (3473) or visit our Code of Ordinances page.