Amendments to By-law No. 133-1998 - Fees and Charges
for Services Provided by Toronto Fire Services
The Emergency and Protective Services Committee recommends the adoption of the following report (July 13, 1998)
from the Fire Chief; and that the necessary Bill be introduced in Council to give effect thereto:
Purpose:
To improve management and administration of the fees for service programs.
Recommendations:
We recommend that:
(1)Section 7, which relates to interest charges on outstanding balance, be deleted and clause 1(b), which defines "charges",
be amended by deleting "any interest payable pursuant to section 7 and section 11, which relates to the addition of unpaid
fees to the tax roll, be amended by adding the following new subsection: ' The Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of the
City shall add to the fee due and unpaid and referred to in subsection 11 (1) interest at the rate of fifteen per cent (15%) per
year in a like manner as provided for municipal taxes';
(2)Section 13(3), which relates to reimbursement, be amended to include the following at the end of the sub-section
"within the previous 12 month period"; and
(3)These amendments be retroactive to April 16th, 1998, the date By-law No. 133-1998 was adopted by Council.
Justification:
We consider Section 7, is not required as interest will be added to outstanding balances by the Property Tax section of the
Finance Department. The Toronto Fire Services will administer the fees collection for a total of 90 days before the
outstanding balance is added to the tax bill. We do not consider that administration of a floating interest rate charge, for
what would be less than two months, would be cost effective for an operational Department.
At this time, the Municipal Act allows for 1.25% interest per month (15% per year) for outstanding balances on tax
accounts.
The addition of a (12) twelve month limitation on reimbursement of false alarm fees will allow for more accurate estimates
of revenue from this program. The goal of the program is to reduce false alarms and we will encourage all building owners
to take advantage of reimbursement to assist in attaining this goal. However, we do not consider this should be totally open
ended. The twelve (12) month limitation will encourage building owners to act in a timely manner to correct their false
alarm problem. With an open time period, the City should hold all funds realized from false alarm fees for the possibility
that reimbursement could be requested several years after the problem occurred.
Conclusion:
We consider the amendments to By-law No. 133-1998 will allow proper administration of the program and result in better
service to the community. The goal of the program, to reduce false alarms, will be realized in a shorter period allowing
staff to dedicate more time to other fire safety issues.
Contact Name:
Alan F. Speed
Fire Chief
397-4300
