Karen Handy, of Fort Dodge, was sitting at the wheel of her brand new Toyota Prius on a spring day a little more than two years ago, waiting patiently for a traffic light to change.
Less than a minute later, her once-immaculate car was a battered wreck sitting in the middle of the intersection of Second Avenue South and Seventh Street. Inside it, she was reeling from the impact of a collision with another vehicle that, at least briefly, left the scene.
''I was bumped around,'' Handy recalled.
An ambulance was called for her; a tow truck was dispatched for her car.
Handy recovered and her car was repaired.
Soon the medical bills and the repair bills starting filling the mailbox of her and her husband, Larry.
Then, nearly nine months later, a final bill arrived from the Fort Dodge city government. It was a $150 charge for the work firefighters did to clean up all the fluids that leaked from Handy's car onto the road following the crash.
The bill angered Larry and Karen Handy. They viewed it as a final insult stemming from the April 5, 2007, crash that they said, was caused by someone who didn't have a valid license or insurance.
''It makes no sense whatsoever,'' Larry Handy said.
However, the bill was paid by their insurance company, he said.
He has suggested repealing the fee and cutting the pay of the mayor, City Council members and city manager to make up for the lost revenue.
''We have been quite surprised at the number of people who weren't even aware of this little tack-on,'' Karen Handy said. ''We definitely feel this law should be repealed.''
What Karen Handy called a ''little tack-on'' has been on the books in Fort Dodge since 2004. It is one of a small number of fees initiated that year to pay for what have been called extraordinary services provided by the Fire Department.
In addition to the charge for cleaning up fluids from vehicle accidents, the fee schedule includes $150 fees for emergency medical care provided by firefighters and for using hydraulic rescue tools to free someone from wreckage.
During the 2007-2008 government fiscal year, those fees generated $7,300 for the city, according to Penny Clayton, the city clerk and finance director.
She said that since the current fiscal year began July 1, 2008, those fees have generated $4,050.
Fort Dodge isn't the only community that charges such fees, according to Alan Kemp, executive director of the Iowa League of Cities.
''You're seeing cities move to this kind of system,'' he said. ''Fort Dodge is not out of the ordinary.''
Marshalltown is another Iowa city that charges accident cleanup fees. Marshalltown city residents are charged only for the materials firefighters use to clean up the mess. Fire Chief Larry Squires said that usually amounts to about $7. He said non-residents are charged $50.
Information about potential fees in Clinton, Ottumwa and Mason City were not immediately available.
For generations, the Fort Dodge Fire Department's operations were paid for with property tax revenue only. City Manager David Fierke said there is a ''pretty direct correlation'' between what a property owner pays in taxes and the level of firefighting service they might need. Basically, he said, those who own bigger houses which would require more effort from the firefighters if a blaze broke out pay more in property taxes to support the department.
In the case of traffic crashes, such a relationship doesn't exist because the city doesn't tax vehicles, according to Fierke.
''I believe we should charge if there is a real cost to clean up for an accident,'' said Councilman Matt Bemrich. ''A taxpayer sitting at home having dinner with his family shouldn't have to pay because someone else got into an accident that caused these fluids to be spilled on the road.''
He and councilmembers Dave Flattery, Cindy Litwiller and Dan Payne said they're in favor of keeping the fees.
Flattery said he thinks higher fees should be charged to people who are not city residents.
''We have people that aren't from here, that come through town, that get into accidents and they don't pay any property taxes to support fire protection,'' Litwiller said. ''So it's something that could be reviewed, but at this point I see it as a way to help us recoup our costs.''
Council members Richard Inman Curt Olson and Don Wilson couldn't be reached for comment.
Fierke said the bills for fluid clean-up at accidents will now be sent directly to insurers. He added that a new process is being used to get those bills sent out sooner.
The Handys, he said, had a legitimate complaint when they received a bill so many months after the crash.
Contact Bill Shea at (515) 573-2141 or bshea@messengernews.net
