The City of Butler found a new way to increase its revenue.

City council voted at Thursday's meeting to adopt an ordinance which changes the city's emergency service cost recovery fees billed to insurance companies from a flat rate to hourly costs.

The ordinance, in part, states: “This City of Butler Fire Department is hereby authorized to recover reasonable costs for the use of emergency rescue tools, equipment and materials; hazardous material abatement tools and equipment, hazardous abatement materials, fire suppression tools and equipment; and personnel hours involving any hazardous material, environmental, fire safety, and/or rescue incident or operation including vehicular accidents and fires.”

Councilwoman and director of public safety Kathy Kline said this ordinance came about because she noticed other municipalities were pulling in more money in recovery costs and found that hourly fees were the reason for that.

Kline also said she didn't know how much money the city would gain from hourly fees because it will depend on the number of accidents, fires and other emergency calls.

“It stands to reason that the more you have and report, the more your recovery fees are going to be,” she said. The hourly fees will not cost any extra money to the people who are serviced, because money from their insurance premiums already goes to the insurance companies for emergency service cost recovery fees.

The city's flat rate was $1,000. With the new ordinance, fire engines will be billed to insurance companies at $350 per hour, aerial/ladder trucks at $400 per hour, rescue apparatuses at $300 per hour and squad/utility/support apparatuses at $150 per hour.

Tools and service fees also are part of the ordinance, including hydraulic rescue tools at $200 each, road closing/traffic control at $100 per hour and personnel costs at $30 per hour per member.

“We'll have to absolutely make sure that the incident reports are very detailed because it goes down to the tape that they use, the gloves that they use,” Kline said, while adding the hourly fees will not apply to medical calls.

City fire Capt. Jim Kaufman noted that people who are serviced will not be billed if their insurance company does not pay the emergency service cost recovery fees in full.

“Sometimes they pay the full amount, sometimes they don't,” Kaufman said. “It all depends on the circumstances (and) the billing agency.”