§8-15-3. Municipalities empowered and authorized to contract for prevention and extinguishment of fires beyond the corporate limits.

(a) Any municipality that does not have an established fire protection fee may contract to render services in the prevention and extinguishment of fires upon property located within the state. A municipality may contract beyond its immediate boundary limit within its fire department’s first due area as defined in title eighty seven, series six, of the Legislative Rules, for fire service protection if fire protection is provided in accordance with and under a rural fire protection district plan based upon the fire suppression rating schedule approved by the State Insurance Commissioner. All rural fire protection district plans shall be approved by the State Fire Commission. No rural fire protection district plan providing for a municipality to contract beyond its boundary may infringe upon an existing fire department's ~~response~~ first due area without the written consent of the fire department providing fire services for that area.

No contract entered into under the authority of this section may operate to impose any greater obligation or liability upon the municipality than that with respect to property within its corporate limits. Nothing contained in this section may be construed as requiring any municipality to contract to render such services. A municipality providing fire services under contract to any property outside its corporate limits under an approved rural fire protection district plan may offer fire service under contract to any property within the county if the property owner requests the protection and obtains written consent of the fire department providing fire services for that area.

Any contract entered into under the authority of this section, on or after July 1, 1969, shall require the ~~property~~ owner of served property located outside the corporate limits of the serving municipality to pay as consideration for said services an annual payment, determined as provided in the remainder of this subsection. If the municipality does not impose a fire service fee on the users of such service within the municipality as authorized in section thirteen, article thirteen of this chapter, the annual payment shall be equivalent to ~~eighty~~ thirty-three percent of the annual tax levied for current municipal purposes upon property within said municipality of like assessed valuation to the property under contract. If the municipality does impose a fire service fee on the users of such service within the municipality, as authorized in said section, the annual payment shall be equivalent to the amount of fire service fee which would be imposed if the property under contract were located within the municipality ~~plus at least fifty percent of the annual tax levied for current municipal purposes upon property within said municipality of like assessed valuation to the property under contract~~. Provided, that, the annual payment shall not include charges exceeding five percent of annual tax levied for buildings used or intended to be used for the production, storage or housing of agricultural products, as defined in article one (b), section two, chapter nineteen of this code. No contract entered into under the authority of this section, and nothing herein contained, may be construed as requiring or permitting any municipality to install or maintain any special additional apparatus or equipment beyond that necessary for the protection of property within its corporate limits.

(b) The annual payments due under any such contract are payable on or before October 1, of each calendar year in which such contract remains in effect, or upon such day as may be hereinafter provided as the due date of the first installment of ad valorem taxes. If any annual payment is in default for a period of more than thirty days, it shall bear interest at the same rate as that provided for delinquent property taxes and shall be a lien upon the property under contract if a notice of such lien is recorded in the proper deed of trust book in the office of the clerk of the county commission of the county in which such property or the major portion thereof is located. Such lien is void at the expiration of two years after such defaulted annual payment became due, unless within such two-year period a civil action seeking equitable relief to enforce the lien was instituted by the municipality. The municipality may by civil action collect any annual payment and the interest thereon at any time within five years after such payment became due; and upon default in any annual payment, the municipality may cancel the contract involved the contract shall expire and any response following the expiration of the contract shall be assessed as provided for in this subsection (c) hereinafter.

(c) Reimbursement fees for services rendered by the fire company or fire department must be reasonable. The total fee for responding to any incident or accident may not exceed $5,000, except: (1) an incident or accident involving hazardous materials; or (2) a fire incident at properties or structures that are not single family dwellings.

The municipality shall require that any fees charged pursuant to the authority conferred by this section must be in writing and be itemized by specific services rendered; and the rate for each service and may include fees of equipment and personnel responding with the first due fire company or fire department by any and all mutual aid fire companies or fire departments.

Reimbursement rates and fees authorized in this section shall be calculated as follows:

(1) The fee rate per hour, or one-half hour portion thereof, for a motor-powered firefighting apparatus shall be based upon the fully equipped apparatus based upon the type of motor powered firefighting apparatus including future anticipated replacement cost of the motor powered apparatus on a twenty-year replacement basis and a reasonable allowance for accounting.

(2) The fee rate per hour, or one-half hour increment portion thereof, for firefighters shall be based upon a firefighter fully equipped with personal protective equipment consisting of helmet, hood, gloves, bunker coat, bunker pants, boots, personal light and personal self-contained breathing apparatus and spare bottle, including future anticipated replacement cost on a ten-year basis, and may include cost of remuneration, insurance, workers’ compensation protection and a reasonable allowance for accounting.

(3) The actual cost of replacing hose, tools, equipment, sustenance provisions or dispensable supplies used, damaged or lost in the course of answering the call for assistance. Hose, tools or equipment damaged in the course of answering the call for assistance shall be retained for a period of not less than six months following the date of loss, to permit review, appraisal and adjustment by possible insurers answering the claim for reimbursement.

(4) The time basis for calculating the total fee for a specific motor powered firefighting apparatus commences at the time the apparatus initiates response, as recorded by the emergency dispatch center, and concludes at the time the apparatus leaves, or clears, from the scene of the accident or incident.

(5) The time basis for calculating the total fee for firefighters responding to the incident scene commences at the time the first apparatus for the respective fire company or fire department initiates response to the call for assistance and concludes at the time the last firefighting apparatus leaves, or clears, from the scene of the accident or incident as reported to and recorded by the emergency dispatch center of the county.

~~(e)~~(d) The municipality may not authorize, and the fire company or fire department may not assess, reimbursement for any services rendered in response to a call for assistance to a property previously assessed for fire service fees or fire levy, or under a fire protection contract as provided for in this chapter by the municipality and the assessed fire service fees or fire levy assessments are not delinquent. Reimbursement fees for services rendered by the fire department or fire company shall be due and payable within thirty days following date of invoice. Payments in default on the thirty-first day following date of invoice shall bear interest at the same rate as that provided for delinquent property taxes and shall be a lien upon the property.

~~(c)~~(e) Any contract made under the authority of this section shall inure to the benefit of and be binding upon the successors in title of the person making the same contract; and such person, upon conveying the property subject to such contract, is no longer liable under such contract, except as to annual payments which were due prior to the conveyance and which remain unpaid.

~~(d)~~(f) Any property owner may cancel any such contract with respect to the property of such owner upon giving a thirty-day written notice to the municipality, if the owner is not in default with respect to any annual payment due thereunder, except that if such notice is given subsequent to July 1, of any calendar year, the next succeeding annual payment shall be made by the property owner as soon as the amount thereof is ascertainable. Upon cancellation as aforesaid, the municipality shall deliver to the property owner a recordable release discharging such owner and such property from any further lien or obligation with respect to the annual payments. The annual payments due under any such contract shall be made to the officials as the municipality, in the contract, designates to receive them, who likewise may receive notice of cancellation and execute upon behalf of the municipality the release for which provision is hereinbefore made.