Billing for volenteer fire department response is only allowed under Indiana Code 36-8-12-13 and in accordance with Town of Shipshewana ordiance(s) and/or exicuted interlocal fire agreement(s).
WHAT TO KNOW FIRST #
As of 2025-07-04 this section of information has been verified with Indiana Code and the current interlocal fire agreement. Please verify this information is correct prior to proceeding, as it governs your ability and procedures to bill.
IC 36-8-12-13 Charges; owners of property or vehicle involved in fire or spill; failure to pay; administrative fees #
Sec. 13. (a) Except as provided in subsection (b), the volunteer fire department that responds first to an incident may impose a charge on the owner of property, the owner of a vehicle, or a responsible party (as defined in IC 13-11-2-191(d)) that is involved in a hazardous material or fuel spill or chemical or hazardous material related fire (as defined in IC 13-11-2-96(b)):
(1) that is responded to by the volunteer fire department; and
(2) that members of that volunteer fire department assisted in extinguishing, containing, or cleaning up.
A second or subsequently responding volunteer fire department may not impose a charge on an owner or responsible party under this section, although it may be entitled to reimbursement from the first responding volunteer fire department in accordance with an interlocal or other agreement.
(b) A volunteer fire department that is funded, in whole or in part:
(1) by taxes imposed by a unit; or
(2) by a contract with a unit;
may not impose a charge under subsection (a) on a natural person who resides or pays property taxes within the boundaries of the unit described in subdivision (1) or (2), unless the spill or the chemical or hazardous material fire poses an imminent threat to persons or property.
(c) The volunteer fire department shall bill the owner or responsible party of the vehicle for the total dollar value of the assistance that was provided, with that value determined by a method that the state fire marshal shall establish under section 16 of this chapter. A copy of the fire incident report to the state fire marshal must accompany the bill. This billing must take place within thirty (30) days after the assistance was provided. The owner or responsible party shall remit payment directly to the governmental unit providing the service. Any money that is collected under this section may be:
(1) deposited in the township firefighting and emergency services fund established in IC 36-8-13-4(a)(1) or the township firefighting fund established in IC 36-8-13-4(a)(2)(A);
(2) used to pay principal and interest on a loan made by the department of homeland security established by IC 10-19-2-1 or a division of the department for the purchase of new or used firefighting and other emergency equipment or apparatus; or
(3) used for the purchase of equipment, buildings, and property for firefighting, fire protection, and other emergency services.
(d) Any administrative fees charged by a fire department’s agent must be paid only from fees that are collected and allowed by Indiana law and the fire marshal’s schedule of fees.
(e) An agent who processes fees on behalf of a fire department shall send all bills, notices, and other related materials to both the fire department and the person being billed for services.
(f) All fees allowed by Indiana law and the fire marshal’s fee schedule must be itemized separately from any other charges.
(g) The volunteer fire department may maintain a civil action to recover an unpaid charge that is imposed under subsection (a) and may, if it prevails, recover all costs of the action, including reasonable attorney’s fees.
IC 36-8-12-16 Schedule of charges for service; conditions for collection; reports; failure to pay #
Sec. 16. (a) A volunteer fire department that provides service within a jurisdiction served by the department may establish a schedule of charges for the services that the department provides not to exceed the state fire marshal’s recommended schedule for services. The volunteer fire department or its agent may collect a service charge according to this schedule from the owner of property that receives service if the following conditions are met:
(1) At the following times, the department gives notice under IC 5-3-1-4(d) in each political subdivision served by the department of the amount of the service charge for each service that the department provides:
(A) Before the schedule of service charges is initiated.
(B) When there is a change in the amount of a service charge.
(2) The property owner has not sent written notice to the department to refuse service by the department to the owner’s property.
(3) The bill for payment of the service charge:
(A) is submitted to the property owner in writing within thirty (30) days after the services are provided;
(B) includes a copy of a fire incident report in the form prescribed by the state fire marshal, if the service was provided for an event that requires a fire incident report;
(C) must contain verification that the bill has been approved by the chief of the volunteer fire department; and
(D) must contain language indicating that correspondence from the property owner and any question from the property owner regarding the bill should be directed to the department.
(4) Payment is remitted directly to the governmental unit providing the service.
(b) A volunteer fire department shall use the revenue collected from the fire service charges under this section:
(1) for the purchase of equipment, buildings, and property for firefighting, fire protection, or other emergency services;
(2) for deposit in the township firefighting and emergency services fund established under IC 36-8-13-4(a)(1) or the township firefighting fund established under IC 36-8-13-4(a)(2)(A); or
(3) to pay principal and interest on a loan made by the department of homeland security established by IC 10-19-2-1 or a division of the department for the purchase of new or used firefighting and other emergency equipment or apparatus.
(c) Any administrative fees charged by a fire department’s agent must be paid only from fees that are collected and allowed by Indiana law and the fire marshal’s schedule of fees.
(d) An agent who processes fees on behalf of a fire department shall send all bills, notices, and other related materials to both the fire department and the person being billed for services.
(e) All fees allowed by Indiana law and the fire marshal’s fee schedule must be itemized separately from any other charges.
(f) If at least twenty-five percent (25%) of the money received by a volunteer fire department for providing fire protection or emergency services is received under one (1) or more contracts with one (1) or more political subdivisions (as defined in IC 34-6-2.1-155), the legislative body of a contracting political subdivision must approve the schedule of service charges established under subsection (a) before the schedule of service charges is initiated in that political subdivision.
(g) A volunteer fire department that:
(1) has contracted with a political subdivision to provide fire protection or emergency services; and
(2) charges for services under this section;
must submit a report to the legislative body of the political subdivision before April 1 of each year indicating the amount of service charges collected during the previous calendar year and how those funds have been expended.
(h) The state fire marshal shall annually prepare and publish a recommended schedule of service charges for fire protection services.
(i) The volunteer fire department or its agent may maintain a civil action to recover an unpaid service charge under this section and may, if it prevails, recover all costs of the action, including reasonable attorney’s fees.
Fees as set in the Interlocal Fire Agreement for 2025 #
9. Service Charges.
A. Approval. The Townships acknowledge and approve that the Town or the Fire Department (but not both) may, in their sole discretion, impose a Service Charge on the property owner or responsible party for whom Services have been rendered.
B. Town Billing. The Townships covenant not to impose their own Service Charges.
C. Service Charge Amounts. The Town or Fire Department may bill Service Charges up to the following amounts:
1. for an initial response with a fire engine, a fire truck, or a fire apparatus, including a hazardous material response unit, or a free rescue unit dispatched on a fire or hazardous material incident, Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00) per response vehicle, except a command/control vehicle, which is One Hundred Dollars ($ 100.00) per vehicle;
2. for on-scene assistance, One Hundred Fifty Dollars per hour ($ 150.00/hr.) per response unit, billed fractionally, and Fifty Dollars ($50.00) per command/control vehicle;
3. for expendable materials such as absorption materials, emulsifiers, or other agents used in cleanup operations, the actual replacement cost of those materials;
4. for collection of debris, chemicals, fuel, or contaminated materials resulting from a spill, the actual cost of removal and disposal at an authorized location; and
5. for excessive false alarm calls that have been activated by alarm systems with no fire being present, Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00).
Receipting Billable Fees #
All fees received for service charges shall be receipted into the following accounts:
| 2087-999-342090 | Fire Service Charges, Response Unit(s) (FF) |
| 2087-999-342091 | Fire Service Charges, Command Unit(s) (FF) |
| 2087-999-342093 | Fire Service Charges, Expendable Materials (FF) |
| 2087-999-342094 | Fire Service Charges, False Alarms (FF) |
HOW TO PROCESS AN INVOICE #
Checklist of requirements:
– The invoice must be submitted to the property owner within thirty (30) days of the services provided.
– The invoice must include a copy of the fire incident report.
– The Fire Chief must ink sign or electronically sign (with digital certification) the invoice before it is sent out. This is to verify the invoice is approved by the Fire Chief.
– The invoice must contain language indicating that correspondence from the property owner and any questions from the property owner regarding the bill should be directed to the department.
– All fees allowed by Indiana law and the fire marshal’s fee schedule must be itemized separately from any other charges.
– Once completed, a historical copy of the invoice and all enclosures must be provided to the fire department.
ENTERING THE TRANSACTION IN ACCUFUND #
Navigate to https://apa.afanywhere.com/cs and log in.
At the top left menu, navigate to Menu > Accounts Receivable > Edit:Invoices
This will open the invoice module. You should now see a list of invoices that have already been created.
To create a new invoice, select the Add button at the top and a new window will open to create a new invoice.
You must enter the following information to create the invoice:
- Customer: Enter or search the customer you wish to bill. You can search in this field by customer name or number.
- Department: Enter the department the invoice is for, if applicable. If the invoice covers multiple departments, please leave blank.
- Description: Enter a short, brief description of what the invoice is for.
- Invoice: This is the invoice number. It defaults to “0”. DO NOT CHANGE. The system will automatically generate invoice numbers.
- Type: Choose “Invoice”
- Invoice Date: Enter the date that the invoice is being created.
- Net Days: Defaults to 30 days. This field is how many days the customer has to pay the invoice. DO NOT CHANGE.
- Reference: Leave blank.
- Due Date: This is the due date based on the Net Days that were entered. It is auto-generated.
- Options check boxes: Do not check
Next, navigate to the Activity tab in the left screen menu. Here you will enter the charges for the invoice.
To add charges, select the Add button at the top. A window will open where you can choose the items to bill for.
Use the Stock Number drop-down to choose the billable item. Below will detail each type of charge and what is needed.
Fire department response units
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- Bill one line per unit. All units are listed in the default description. Edit it to only include the vehicle(s) for this billing line.
- Billing is per response vehicle. Enter the number of vehicles and it will calculate the charge automatically.
- Do not change the Accounting Distribution. This is pre-set.
- Enter the total listed in the Amount field into the Amount field in the Distribution section.
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Fire department command units
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- Bill one line per unit. All units are listed in the default description. Edit it to only include the vehicle(s) for this billing line.
- Billing is per response vehicle. Enter the number of vehicles and it will calculate the charge automatically.
- Do not change the Accounting Distribution. This is pre-set.
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Misc expendable materials used
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- Bill one line for each material used. The default description stated <<LIST DETAILS>> to remind you to clearly and specifically note each item. Delete “<<LIST DETAILS>>” and list the details of the item. This info will be provided by the fire department.
- Enter the quantity and the unit cost of the item. This info will be provided by the fire department.
- Do not change the Accounting Distribution. This is pre-set.
- Enter the total listed in the Amount field into the Amount field in the Distribution section.
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False alarms.
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- Enter the quantity, and it will automatically calculate the rate.
- Do not change the Accounting Distribution. This is pre-set.
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After all the charges are entered, select the Submit button at the top to create the invoice.
The invoice will save and a new entry window may open. You can click the cancel button to go back to the invoice list if that happens.
Next, highlight the invoice you just created by clicking it. Select the Print button at the top of the window to export and print a copy of the final invoice.
The Print Invoice window will open. In the Report field, choose the template called Fire Department Invoice for Response
A PDF of the invoice should be generated and open for you to print or save as needed.
