Whereas the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General has indicated that private insurance industry standards are not in the control of the Province of British Columbia; And whereas current insurance industry guidelines require fire apparatus to be replaced on a maximum 25-year basis or the fire insurance grades of a community will be adversely affected; And whereas the cost to replace fire apparatus is a large financial burden for small communities; And whereas a municipality is not permitted to utilize long-term borrowing from the Municipal Finance Authority to purchase new fire apparatus without a costly referendum process: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM ask the Province of British Columbia to enact legislation that permits local governments to utilize long-term borrowing from the Municipal Finance Authority over a 20-year period, without the requirement to go to referendum or AAP Alternative Approval Process; And be it further resolved that the Province of British Columbia work with insurance underwriters and change legislation to allow the use of older fire apparatus that pass an annual inspection without an affect to the insurance grading of the community.
Ministry of Municipal Affairs and the Office of the Fire Commissioner Elector approval is critical to ensuring transparency and public accountability in council and board decisions impacting the long-term finances of a local government, including the property taxes of those who must repay the debt, despite the administrative burden and chance that the electors may not approve the borrowing. The province provides local governments with the option of seeking elector approval through an assent vote or through the streamlined Alternative Approval Process. While there are some exemptions from elector approval, these are provided where there was a detailed planning process with full public consultation, like an approved liquid waste management plan, or in cases where a cost is externally imposed on a municipality through a legislative requirement, state of emergency, a court order, or an executive order like an Environmental Protection Order. Given the need for public accountability on long-term council decisions, the province is currently not considering removing the elector approval requirement from the statute. While the Province of British Columbia does not have a role in the Fire Underwriters Survey FUS processes for setting rates and gradings for fire apparatus, the Office of the Fire Commissioner OFC has committed to attempting to facilitate a discussion with the UBCM and the FUS to ensure local governments can access clear information on the rationale used in determining the FUS fire equipment rating system. The province recognizes the challenges that small and rural communities face in delivering suppression services as well as replacing and maintaining fire service equipment such as fire trucks. Through the OFC, the Province has been conveying these concerns and the desire to extend insurance beyond 20 years for well maintained and low mileage fire apparatuses. The FUS has published a technical bulletin called INSURANCE GRADING RECOGNITION OF USED OR REBUILT FIRE APPARATUS on their website at https:fireunderwriters.caDownloads. The bulletin it speaks to the standards referenced and used in the grading process, as well as recognition that small and rural communities that are utilizing used fire apparatus may have challenges meeting the strict standards. The bulletin also outlines additional options and steps that a community can take to extend the certified life span of a fire apparatus up to 30 years.