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While I agree it's a ed up arrangement, IIRC the county put a fire department tax on the ballot and the voters shot it down. It's ed up situation, but it's exactly what they voted for.
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow...191241763.html
If you recall, some residents in South Fulton were responsible for a similar incident last year - they refused to pay fees and basically allowed their own house to go up in flames because they figured the nearest fire department (which isn't required or properly resourced to operate county wide, cuz that would be stupid) would respond. Once again, a bunch of leeches try to outsmart the system and took a gamble when they should have just paid the $75. What will it take for people to realize they need to pay for things up front?A Tennessee couple helplessly watched their home burn to the ground, along with all of their possessions, because they did not pay a $75 annual fee to the local fire department.
Vicky Bell told the NBC affiliate WPSD-TV that she called 911 when her mobile home in Obion County caught fire. Firefighters arrived on the scene but as the fire raged, they simply stood by and did nothing. "In an emergency, the first thing you think of, 'Call 9-1-1," homeowner Bell said. However, Bell and her husband were forced to walk into the burning home in an attempt to retrieve their own belongings. "You could look out my mom's trailer and see the trucks sitting at a distance," Bell said. "We just wished we could've gotten more out."
Hopefully the county authorities don't cave in to pressure to ins ute a Fire Department tax when most of the intelligent, god-fearing people do the right thing and pay their optional fees or create a massive fine for responding to fires of future leeches...cuz raising taxes to help pay for EVERYONE'S ability to have access to Fire Department resources is un-American!
While I agree it's a ed up arrangement, IIRC the county put a fire department tax on the ballot and the voters shot it down. It's ed up situation, but it's exactly what they voted for.
I guess firemen aren't able to accept checks/cash/credit cards on location or operators aren't able to accept payments immediately over the phone.
Seems rather silly that they get sent out for the 9/11 call, unless they are concerned that the fire will spread to paying citizens.
What happens if a property is sandwiched between two non-paying property owners?
Exactly! The citizens were concerned it would raise their property taxes.
America The Beautiful
You'd figure the others would pay up after the first example, but no, $75 for socialist fire fighthers? NO!
This is exactly why they were sent out. The last time this happened (in the same town) they were sent out because the fire from the house that didn't pay spread to a house that did pay and they put it out.
Of course, they could put the fire out and then send them an itemized bill for a few thousand dollars for the service.
have the victim sign a short,simple contract first, with minimum prices listed, so there will be legal recourse.
The first guy did ask and offer to pay, but the ff's refused.
.... and grant them the power to put a lien on the property for this bill.
You can see why such a system wouldn't work, right?
Actually it can and does work, even without a contract. SAFD already charges idiots that drive around barriers and get washed away for the cost of the high water rescue. It's not that different.
Seems reasonable.
Apples to Oranges. No one is paying a fee for potential water rescue.
In South Fulton's case, everyone could just save their money and quit paying the fee.
I do think that the costs should be punitive too. As in, not JUST the Cost of Service.
They need to do this so that residents don't just play the numbers and quit paying altogether.
Tack on a hefty surcharge, but agree to waive half of that surcharge if they sign up for the annual fee.
I wonder what the operating costs are for the fire station.
Is 75 dollars a year not an exceedingly cheap cost to possibly save your house from a fire? The people who aren't paying aren't very mathematically inclined.
Or maybe they are. Any idea of the probability of a house catching fire in S. Fulton? The average replacement cost of a trailer and its contents?
(I kid of course, I am pretty sure that none of them calculated the expected cashflows of each option).
replacement cost house/contents insurance could be around $1000/year.
$75 is probably what they pay for cable TV/internet or cellphone monthly.
Humanity is notoriously bad at determining the correct answer when it comes to high risk/low probability scenarios. People are willing to spend milliions to prevent terrorism, while highways break down across the country. People are worried about shark attacks, but not about drowning. Etc etc.
Our ability to control the situation plays in alot to these things too. People worry more about things they have less control over (terrorism attacks) than something with perceived control (driving a car) even if the odds are much more likely they'll die in a wreck.
That's cheaper than my hoa dues which I get no tangible benefit from.
I wouldn't pay the $75.
Precisely why I have a hard time mustering up a whole lot of sympathy for someone who has to watch their house burn down because they don't feel like paying the fee.
Maybe the fee needs to be put in terms they can understand? Protect your house from fire for just two cans of Skoal a month!The people who aren't paying aren't very mathematically inclined.
Why even put it on a ballot? There's safety issues on this that go beyond the homeowner, and the cost is, by all means, negligible.
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