Legal Advertisement ORDINANCE NO. 25-10 OF THE COMMON

Legal Advertisement
ORDINANCE NO. 25-10
OF THE COMMON
COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF FRANKLIN, INDIANA

AN ORDINANCE OF
THE COMMON COUNCIL
OF THE CITY OF
FRANKLIN, INDIANA IM-
PLEMENTING A FEE
FOR NON-EMERGENCY
RESPONSES AND LIFT
ASSISTANCE AT RESI-
DENTIAL CARE FACILI-
TIES
WHEREAS, the City of
Franklin, Indiana (the
City) is a duly formed
municipal corporation
within the State of Indiana,
governed by its duly
elected Mayor and Com-
mon Council (Council);
and
WHEREAS, the Citys
fire and emergency re-
sponse personnel must al-
ways be prepared and
available for emergencies
within and throughout the
City; and
WHEREAS, utilization
of Fire Department emer-
gency response personnel
for non-emergency calls to
residential care facilities
that are compensated to
maintain staff to assist
their residents places an
unreasonable and unwar-
ranted demand on City re-
sources, and impedes
emergency responders
ability to respond to emer-
gencies; and
WHEREAS,
non-emergency responses
and lift assists are regu-
larly being provided by the
Citys emergency re-
sponders at such residen-
tial care facilities for multi-
ple residents, and the
Citys residents should not
bear those costs; and
WHEREAS, to promote
the health, safety, and
general welfare of City
residents, and to provide a
disincentive for the prac-
tice of using
publicly-funded emer-
gency services to provide
non-emergency assis-
tance to residential care
facilities, the City shall as-
sess a fee upon residen-
tial care facilities for
non-emergency responses
and/or patient lift assists
for their residents; and
WHEREAS, the City
will continue to provide
non-emergency lift assist
and other appropriate as-
sistance at no cost to resi-
dents and businesses that
are not considered to be
residential care facilities.
NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT ORDAINED BY
THE COMMON COUNCIL
OF THE CITY OF
FRANKLIN, INDIANA,
THAT:
Section 1. The forego-
ing recitals are fully incor-
porated herein by refer-
ence.
Section 2. Definitions.
For purposes of this Ordi-
nance, the terms below
shall be defined as fol-
lows:
(a) Lift assist: A re-
sponse by the Citys fire
department emergency re-
sponse unit(s) to a resi-
dential care facility for the
purposes of lifting an unin-
jured fallen person, who
does not require emer-
gency medical treatment
or transportation, to a
pre-fall position, or other-
wise physically moving the
uninjured person who
does not require emer-
gency medical treatment
or transportation.
(b) Non-emergency re-
sponse: A response by the
Citys fire department
emergency response
unit(s) to a residential care
facility when there is not
an emergency medical
condition or medical ne-
cessity justifying the pres-
ence of the emergency
unit at the facility, based
upon an assessment by
the officer in charge or
lead paramedic of the
emergency unit response
unit. This term shall in-
clude, but not be limited
to, responses to calls for
personal physical assis-
tance that do not require
professional medical at-
tention on an emergency
basis, such as calls for
transportation to a medical
facility or care center for
non-emergency medical
treatment, or other health
care calls more appropri-
ately addressed to a
nurse, personal care at-
tendant, or facility em-
ployee.
(c) Residential care fa-
cility: a facility that is re-
quired by state law to
maintain a license to oper-
ate a skilled nursing
home, skilled nursing facil-
ity, nursing home, assisted
living facility, long-term
care facility, or extended
cared facility.
Section3. Determination
of non-emergency re-
sponse or lift assist.
Based upon the assess-
ment undertaken by the
officer in charge or lead
paramedic of an emer-
gency response unit(s)
dispatched to a residential
care facility and their de-
termination that no emer-
gency medical condition or
emergency medical ne-
cessity exists and that the
response qualifies as a
non-emergency lift assist
or non-emergency re-
sponse, the officer in
charge or lead paramedic
shall declare the incident a
non-emergency lift assist
or a non-emergency re-
sponse in their incident re-
port.
Section 4. Assessment
of fee. The Fire Chief, or
designee, shall be author-
ized to issue a fee, to
billed to the residential
care facility, for each inci-
dent determined to be a
non-emergency response
or a lift assist at a residen-
tial care facility. For a first,
second, or third offense
per calendar year, the fee
shall be $500.00 per
non-emergency response
or non-emergency lift as-
sist. For a fourth or subse-
quent offense per calen-
dar year, the fee shall be
$1,000.00 per
non-emergency response
or non-emergency lift as-
sist.
Section 5. Administra-
tive decision. Notice of the
imposition of fees under
the provisions of this sec-
tion shall be sent to the
owner or management of
the residential care facility
where the incident oc-
curred. The owner, man-
ager, or chief administra-
tive agent regularly as-
signed and employed on
the premises at the time of
the occurrence shall be
presumed to be the appro-
priate person at the resi-
dential care facility to re-
ceive the notice, unless
the City is notified, in writ-
ing, by the owner or man-
agement of another per-
son designated to receive
such notices.
Section 6. Waiver of im-
position. In the event the
Fire Chief, or designee,
determines that the Citys
assessment or determina-
tion of a response as a
non-emergency response
or lift assist was in error or
there were other mitigating
factors of which the com-
manding officer was una-
ware at the time of the in-
cident, the Fire Chief, or
designee, may waive the
imposition of the applica-
ble fee(s).
Section 7. Appeal from
administrative decision.
Any party subject to a fee
under this Ordinance shall
have a right of appeal to
the Citys Board of Public
Works and Safety. A no-
tice of appeal must be
submitted in writing no
later than 10 days after is-
suance of the notice of the
fee and must be directed
to the City Clerk Treasurer
at 70 E. Monroe St.,
Franklin, IN 46131. The
written appeal should in-
clude the fee reference
number and the partys
reasoning why the deter-
mination of notice of
non-emergency response
or lift assist should be re-
considered. After receipt
of a written appeal and at
a subsequent meeting, the
Board of Public Works
and Safety shall make its
final determination, which
it shall report to the appel-
lant in writing. Unless a
notice of appeal is prop-
erly filed in accordance
with this section within 10
days of the issuance of
the notice of fee, the fee
shall be deemed final.
Section 8. Should any
parts of this Ordinance be
found unconstitutional or
illegal, the remaining parts
shall survive and be in full
effect.
Section 9. This Ordi-
nance shall be in full force
and effect on the _____
day of
____________________,
2025, after passage by the
Council and approval by
the Mayor, and in accord-
ance with Indiana law.
INTRODUCED & AP-
PROVED by the Common
Council of the City of
Franklin, Johnson County,
Indiana, this ____ day of
_________________,
2025.

City of Franklin, Indiana,
By its Common Council:
Jan Jones,
City Clerk Treasurer
60153954 hspaxlp
(J) 10-10-2025