| Updated: 1/19/2010 10:38 pm |
Published: 1/19/2010 11:22 am
|
Just one day to go before union leaders decide between layoffs or pay cuts, as the city looks for the best ways to cut millions of dollars in spending. But as Fox 23's Douglas Clark reports, the city is leaving a lot of money on the table.
When the fire department responds to a car accident or fire, a person's insurance policy sets aside money to reimburse the department for its response costs. Right now, that money is not being collected.
“Yes, I would like to see that kind of program. If the insurance company is liable for a situation, we should collect like every other city does,” says Fire Union President Stan May.
For a house or building fire, insurance policies typically set aside $500 for the fire department’s response. For car accidents, insurers will reimburse up to the actual cost of the response. Cities like Sapulpa and Sand Springs have been using an independent firm to help recoup some of the money.
“We feel like it’s maybe $30-40,000 which actually pays the salary of one firefighter. So from that aspect, it’s been a real benefit to us,” says Sand Springs Fire Chief Mark Joslin.
Representatives with the collection company, which already recovers some insurance money for Tulsa, say the city could recoup more than $600,000 between February and June, after they take their cut.
“We send a bill to the insurance carriers on behalf of the city. The insurance carriers then forward us the checks, which we turn in to the city. And we charge a contingency fee based on what we actually recover,” says Todd DeSmet, Executive Director of Government Claims for Claims Management Resources.
But Fire Union President Stan May says larger cities like Tulsa are restricted more than smaller cities. Being able to collect the money may require a change to city ordinance.
“If we can work out the legalities, I believe we would collect a lot more money that would go back to funding police and fire, public safety. We could increase the level of public safety or at least keep it where it is,” says May.
While there is no up-front cost to the city, the collection firm that Sand Springs and Sapulpa use takes one third of the value recovered.
