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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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CONTACT: Amy
Giancoli Hartman |
State Rep. Thomas
Yewcic |
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Yewcic: Municipalities should just say 'no' to accident fee
HARRISBURG, Jan. 18 -- State Rep. Tom Yewcic, D-Cambria/Somerset, is planning to introduce legislation that would prevent municipal police departments from levying fees for responding to a vehicle accident.
"Evidently an Ohio company has circulated a sample ordinance to Pennsylvania municipalities as a way to charge fees for police services. However, police protection is a fundamental and integral function of government and people should not be assessed a fee for something tax dollars already pay for," Yewcic said.
"There is nothing in the law that authorizes or even intended to authorize local municipalities to charge someone this type of fee.
"This shouldn't be happening. Municipal residents already pay taxes for their police services, yet I've received several complaints from people involved in accidents who have been billed as much as $500 for a police officer to write an accident report. It's wrong and unfair, and I plan to change that."
In addition, Yewcic said, insurance companies are refusing to pay this added fee because they're not required to, and if the victim doesn't pay it, the municipalities are working with a cost recovery operation to secure the money.
"That means this fee ultimately could ruin a person's credit," he said. "This fee should never happen in the first place."
Yewcic said his bill would apply to all municipalities, and he expects to introduce the bill soon.
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