More good news from the plutocrats: NYC Fire Dept to charge to respond to accidents & car fires

[Hannah Bell]

A plan by the New York Fire Department to allay severe budget cuts by charging motorists up to $490 to respond to accidents and car fires has touched off blistering criticism and calls for the City Council to outlaw the policy.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, nevertheless, is embracing the new fee proposal, which City Hall officials said would begin on July 1 and raise about $1.5 million annually.

The mayor, speaking on a weekly radio show on Friday, said there were few other palatable options for firefighters who are facing the challenge of doing more work with fewer resources.

Jason Post, a spokesman for the mayor, wrote in an e-mail on Saturday: “Other cities bill motorists and their insurance companies to recoup the costs of providing services that are commonly covered by automobile insurance companies, and now New York City will, too. We are going to search for other ways to shift costs away from overburdened taxpayers and towards accountable parties.”

...a firefighter said he and his colleagues were surprised by the city’s proposal. “It’s a tough situation,” he said. “The city is trying to find creative ways to save civil service jobs.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/12/nyregion/12fire.html?partner=rss&emc=rss


And if you're to poor to pay?

You're criminalized & on the treadmill toward perpetual debt slavery.

Set-up: now it's jobs v. fees.

"accountable parties" -- how many people set out to have an accident or a fire?

taxing the millionaires & billionaires of NYC: not creative enough, apparently.

Bloomberg could pay the entire deficit of NYC & still have money left.

Why did you people elect this waste of space three times?