If you get into a car accident and 911 is called, you may get billed for the emergency response. Cash-strapped communities are sending out bills to cover the costs of fire trucks responding to crashes. As CBS 2 Investigator Dave Savini reports, often times it does not matter whether you caused the accident or are the victim. If we don't pay taxes for 911 services why do we pay taxes?
Cary Feldman received one of these bills last summer. He was driving his motor scooter in Chicago Heights when he was struck from behind. He was fine, but someone else called 911, and a fire truck was sent to the scene.
Feldman says it was unnecessary. "There was no fire, there was no explosion, there was no debris," Feldman said. "From what I saw, they came, they saw, and they left." The fire department then sent him a $200 bill for that fire truck response. "We're paying taxes for these services," said Feldman. "We don't need to have a second tax."
| But perhaps the first tax should be higher to match the actual cost of having the service. |
Nine states have created laws banning these fees. Illinois has no ban on these so-called "crash taxes." In fact, pending Illinois legislation would allow municipalities to charge up to $250 an hour for an emergency response.
Illinois Representative Karen Yarbrough is working on this issue and wants the pending legislation killed. "Bad bill, very bad bill," said Yarbrough. "This is just another way to reach into a consumer's pocket."
"I think the State of Illinois needs to take some actions to stop this from happening," said Feldman.
Aside from the cost, there is concern that people will be afraid to call 911. That's what happened last month in South Carolina. A couple tried using a hose to put out their house fire in order to avoid being billed by the fire department.
Once you're billed, as Feldman learned, there is no process to fight it. There is no court date. You just have to pay the fee, or the consequences.