Erie Township shifts insurance billing

3/9/2005

ERIE - Erie Township board members last night approved a proposal to abandon its two-year-old practice of directly billing insurers for police and fire services provided to nonresidents and entered into a contract with a Dayton firm to do the billing for them.

The one-year contract with Cost Recovery Corp. will allow the company to bill insurers directly for each police and fire emergency service provided by the township.

The cost of the company's billing service is paid by insurers, company Vice President Regina Moore explained, and not charged to the township.

She estimated that Erie could potentially recover more than $100,000 a year from insurance companies.

Township board members initially wanted more information on the service, specifically how the company planned to deal with incidents involving local residents. The township's current cost-recovery ordinance does not send bills to local taxpayers for any emergency services. Township emergency officials agreed to only submit incidents involving nonresidents to the firm.

The board also approved a contract with the Monroe County Road Commission to pave the northernmost mile of Suder Road this year.