Article V. Fiscal Matters.

Each local fire and rescue department supported in whole or in part with tax funds must prepare an annual budget recommendation that describes its requirements with appropriate justification in a format prescribed by the County Executive. Each department’s budget recommendation must be submitted to the Fire Chief by the deadline set by the Chief.

The Fire Chief must prepare and submit to the Commission for its review and comment a unified Fire and Rescue Service budget, including the proposed budgets for local fire and rescue departments and the staff and compensation proposed for the LFRD representative.

The Chief must forward the Commission’s comments and recommendations on the Chief’s proposed budget, together with a summary and an analysis of County-wide implications and relationships to applicable provisions of the fire service master plan, to the County Executive for review and submission to the County Council as required by the County Charter. The Chief must transmit the proposed budget to the Executive by the deadline established by the Executive.

The County Council must appropriate funds for fire, rescue, and emergency medical services for the ensuing fiscal year as prescribed by the Charter. A person must not encumber or spend funds in excess of appropriations. All distributions of appropriations to a local fire and rescue department are conditional on the local fire and rescue department’s complying with applicable law, County regulations and policies, and lawful orders of the Fire Chief.

Fire Tax District. A fire tax district, comprising the entire County, includes all real and personal property assessed for County tax purposes.

Tax levy and collection. The County Council may levy a tax on each $100 of the assessed value of taxable property in the fire tax district at a rate to yield an amount that the Council finds sufficient to fund:

Obligation to Provide Service.

Definitions. In this Section the following terms have the meanings indicated:

Imposition of reimbursement. The County must impose a reimbursement charge for any emergency medical services provided in the County, and, unless prohibited by other law, outside the County under a mutual aid agreement.

Liability for Reimbursement. Subject to paragraph (e), each individual who receives emergency medical services is responsible for paying for the emergency medical services.

Hardship Waiver.

County Residents - Payment of Uninsured Portion of the Emergency Medical Services Reimbursement.

Restriction on Local Fire and Rescue Departments. A local fire and rescue department must not impose a separate charge for emergency medical services.

Use of Revenue.

Regulations; Reimbursement Schedule. The County Executive must adopt a regulation under method (2) to implement the emergency medical services reimbursement program. The regulation must establish a reimbursement schedule based on the cost of providing emergency medical services. The reimbursement schedule may include an annual automatic adjustment based on inflation, as measured by an index reasonably related to the cost of providing emergency medical services. The regulation may require each individual who receives emergency medical services to provide financial information, including all the individual’s insurance coverage, and to assign insurance benefits to the County.

Reporting. The Fire Chief must submit a report to the County Executive and County Council not later than January 1 and July 1 of each year regarding implementation of the Program. The report should include:

Patient Advocate. The Office of Consumer Protection must employ a Patient Advocate to:

Outreach and Education Campaign. The County Executive must implement a public outreach and education campaign before and during implementation of the Program. This campaign should include:

Service Restoration: Place one ladder truck in the first battalion back into service with dedicated 24- hour staffing.

Apparatus Replacement Funding: Buy one tractor drawn ladder truck, one Engine Company, and 5 EMS units for system unit response improvements.

Facility Maintenance and Improvements: Conduct a strategic facility assessment, develop a maintenance and improvement plan for all LFRD- and County-owned fire and rescue facilities and, to the extent possible based on available funding, begin initial maintenance and repairs to these facilities.

Training: Provide system training for career and volunteer personnel, including core fire, rescue, EMS, technical rescue, and driver training classes.

Fire and Rescue Equipment: Buy personal protective equipment, portable fire, rescue, technical rescue, and EMS equipment for career and volunteer personnel, the training academy, and operational units.

Distribution. The County must pay all appropriated funds budgeted for use by a local fire and rescue department at least on a monthly basis to the department in accordance with a projected monthly schedule or approved budget submitted by that department before the start of the fiscal year. At the request of a local fire and rescue department, the County, as a service to that department, may retain, disburse, and account for any fire tax funds budgeted for use by that department.

Expenditures and investments. The treasurers, as authorized by the local fire and rescue department, must pay all proper costs, expenses, claims and demands necessary for the maintenance, equipment, and operation of the local fire and rescue department. Any money which the County retains on behalf of the local fire and rescue department must be invested in the County’s investment fund. The proceeds from those investments must be credited to each local fire and rescue department for the next fiscal year after the funds were invested. Proceeds must be credited to each local fire and rescue department in proportion to the amount of funds retained and invested by the County.

Treasurer’s bond. Each local fire and rescue department must provide a corporate bond to the County approved by the Director of Finance conditioned on the faithful discharge of the duties of the treasurer. The Director may approve a blanket corporate bond covering one or more local fire and rescue departments.

Audit. Financial transactions involving County fire tax funds must be included in the annual audit required by the Charter. Copies of the annual audit must be provided to the County Council, the Commission, and each local fire and rescue department.

Title to fire, rescue, and emergency medical service apparatus and facilities, purchased in whole or in part with any tax funds before July 30, 1980, may be retained by the local fire and rescue department unless the appropriation resolution that funded the purchase specified otherwise.

All apparatus and facilities purchased with tax funds after July 30, 1980, must be titled to the County and must be assigned in accordance with the adopted master fire, rescue, and emergency services plan. A newly constructed fire station, purchased with tax funds after July 1, 1999, may be held under a title reflecting concurrent ownership by the County and a local fire and rescue department if:

The Chief Administrative Officer must approve each sale or other disposition of any apparatus or facilities to ensure that the sale or other disposition does not adversely affect the public interest. If the Chief Administrative Officer does not approve a sale or other disposition, the County Council may by resolution approve the proposed sale or disposition. The proportionate share of the proceeds of any such disposition attributable to fire tax funds must be used by the local fire and rescue department for fire, rescue or emergency medical services, or be returned to the fire tax district. In a dispute over the source and amount of original financing, or over the value of the apparatus or facilities, the County agrees to binding arbitration under the Maryland Uniform Arbitration Act to resolve the dispute.

The County acknowledges that it has no ownership claim to any equipment, apparatus, facilities, or property acquired without any use of tax funds. This Chapter does not authorize the County to require the transfer of ownership of any such equipment, apparatus, facilities, or property to the County.

The County may accept title and all encumbrances to any fire, rescue, or emergency medical service apparatus, equipment, facility or property from any local fire and rescue department that requests the transfer of title, even if the item is subject to an existing debt. The Chief Administrative Officer must approve or reject the transfer after considering any recommendations by the Commission. The Chief Administrative Officer, after considering the Commission’s advice and recommendations, must develop procedures for the orderly disposition of assets of any local fire and rescue department that is unable to provide fire, rescue, or emergency medical services so that the assets continue to be used to provide fire, rescue, and emergency medical services in that community.

Any funds accruing to the County from the sale or other disposition of any apparatus, equipment, facility or property must be applied to the funding of fire and rescue appropriations approved by the County Council.

For purposes of operation, the Chief Administrative Officer, after considering the Commission’s advice and recommendations, must assign fire stations when built or acquired to a local fire and rescue department or, with the concurrence of the County Executive and County Council, to the Fire and Rescue Service. This Section does not preclude the Fire and Rescue Service from operating a fire station as otherwise provided by law.