Accidents happen, but depending on where they happen, even if it's a minor crash, you may face a major bill.

Jeanette Smith refuses to pay the $1,400 fire run bill she received from Tyrone Township after her son was in a car crash in which no one was injured and both motorists were able to drive away.

Smith called the bill “exorbitant.”

“I would be willing to pay a small fee, maybe a couple hundred dollars, but I am not paying $1,400,” Smith, a Farmington Hills resident. She appealed the bill to the township board, and the board denied it Aug. 21. “No one went to the hospital… It is just awful. It was a fender bender, not a major accident and they are charging us for no services rendered.”

Smith’s appeal of the ordinance – and denial – is the second in as many months that has come before the Tyrone Township board.

In July, a Tyrone Township man was billed $1,419 after the Fenton Fire Department responded to his home when he was burning leaves, although he said they never had to get out of their truck for the controlled burn.

Tyrone Township does not have its own fire department and contracts with the City of Fenton, Fenton Township and the Hartland-Deerfield Fire Authority for service. Those agencies charge the township $1,419 per run regardless of how large or small the emergency response.

Township residents pay a flat special assessment of $150 per parcel annually for police and fire services and are not billed per run unless they are found in violation of an ordinance, such as the man who did not have a burn permit.

But people who don't live in the township located between Hartland and Fenton and through which US-23 runs don’t have the same protection.

Through July, Tyrone Township officials have sent out 32 separate emergency run bills for a total of $43,695. Less than half of that has been collected. Four bills were first appealed to Township Supervisor Mike Cunningham and all were denied. Smith’s is the second appeal this year that has been denied by the full board. A third appeal was partially approved, resulting in a reduction of the bill.

In 2017, 314 fire runs were made in the township at a total cost of $432,894. Of those, the township issued bills for 72, totalling $96,969, and collected $76,629.

The township will also bill for ambulance runs, although Clerk Marcie Husted said that fee may be reduced to $400 if it is found a driver suffered a medical condition such as a seizure or heart attack which caused a crash.

Cost recovery ordinances are relatively common across the state, said Mike Selden, director of member information services for the Michigan Townships Association.

He fields calls every few weeks from townships that are seeking samples of cost recovery ordinances they can use to recoup their costs, particularly with reduced revenue sharing from the state. He advises township officials to work with attorneys on drafting an ordinance that can be defended in court and can be collected upon.

“I don’t know what a lot of them charge – the amount in Tyrone sounds relatively high, but if their contract calls for that, then that is what they are passing along,” Selden said. “The contract may be high, but if they are sending trucks, they have those costs, and the charge should fit the cost.”

Smith says what she was billed does not fit the cost. She asked for an itemization of charges beyond the services the township originally told her she was billed for: “incident command,” “investigate,” and “control traffic.”

Township officials declined to explain the billing.

Cunningham explained that an itemization statement would be “a huge” auditing cost, requiring more clerical staff for a township that is trying to keep costs down for resident taxpayers.

Treasurer Jennifer Eden agreed.

“Our hands are tied – we have to pay for these protections,” she said. “The fire department charges the same for a run whether it is a cat in a tree, a house on fire, or a (factory) plant on fire. It’s not always fair, but it’s the only way we can do it.”

Fenton Fire Chief Robert Cairnduffconfirmed the flat rate is the same whether firefighters respond to a scene for five minutes or five hours and added that is “typical for most municipalities” with cost recovery ordinances growing in popularity.

In Fenton, if a non-resident is involved in a crash, the fire department bills on a time schedule. For the first hour on the scene, the cost is $750, and after the first hour, costs rise based on the number of firefighters and vehicles on scene.

“Crazy insurance rules drive how we have to establish our ordinances,” Cairnduff said of Michigan's no-fault insurance standard. “If the bill appears you are trying to recover costs for damages, no-fault laws kick in and the insurance won’t cover it.”

Tyrone Township officials advise those they bill for fire service to submit the invoices to their insurance company.

Smith’s insurer, Allstate, denied her claim.

In a letter to Tyrone Township, Allstate representative Amanda Brown wrote that an investigation determined Smith was not legally responsible for the crash and the company wouldn’t pay.

Brown added that after a review of Smith's bill and the township ordinance, Allstate “determined the ordinance was invalid.”

Brown said she was unable to comment regarding the letter. An Allstate spokesperson did not respond to a message left seeking comment.

Cunningham, the township supervisor, disagrees with the company's position on the ordinance.

“Who is the insurance company to find our ordinance invalid?” he asked. “If they say you’re in good hands, make sure you are before you sign up.”

Contact Susan Bromley at sbromley@livingstondaily.com Follow on Twitter @SusanBromley10