Proposed fire fees burn Schmal

[five_alarm]

City alderman John Schmal says a proposed bylaw that would hold drivers and homeowners accountable for a number of non-emergency fees is a double-whammy for taxpayers. The bylaw, which will come to city council for approval on Nov. 3, would allow the Calgary Fire Department to charge fees for services such as cleaning up fluid spills from accidents, managing traffic flow around accident scenes and responding to false alarms. "We're at the point where we're saying not only will there be a tax increase, we'll gouge you for services," said Schmal. "We have to ask ourselves, 'we have a tax structure, we pay a portion of city tax, what does that cover?' "


Source: Calgary Herald (http://www.firehall.com/refer.php?url=http://www.canada.com/search/story.aspx?id=7e3f2993-248c-4d86-8ba2-5ffab45ae569&linkid=200&parent=news(headlines)&)