The following opinion is presented on-line for informational use only and does not replace the official version. (Mich Dept of Attorney General Web Site - www.ag.state.mi.us) STATE OF MICHIGAN MIKE COX, ATTORNEY GENERAL
INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENTS: FIRE PROTECTION: A municipal ordinance imposing fees for fire service runs adopted pursuant to
MCL 41.806a may only be applied within the territory of that municipality. In
order for participating townships acting jointly with a village to impose fees
for fire service runs within their respective territories, each must adopt its
own authorizing ordinance under MCL 41.806a. Opinion No. 7180 September 29, 2005 Honorable Mike Nofs You have asked a question regarding the extent to which a village ordinance
may be made effective in an area outside the village's territory by the terms of
a joint agreement. According to your letter, a village and three townships
receive fire protection services from the village fire department under the
supervision of a joint fire board authorized by section 11 of 1951 PA 33, MCL
41.801 et seq (Act). The agreement between these four units of government
creating the joint fire board authorizes the village to bill for fire runs under
its village billing ordinance in the defined coverage areas of each of these
four units of government. You ask whether the village and these townships may,
by agreement, impose the requirements of the village ordinance for paying the
costs of fire runs on those persons and entities receiving fire services in the
three townships. The answer to your question requires a review of the history of the Act,
which authorizes townships to provide fire and police services individually as
well as jointly with other townships, villages, and certain cities meeting the
population requirements of the Act. Until 1978, the Act did not have a provision
that authorized billing for the fire services provided under the Act. Indeed,
OAG, 1973-1974, No 4768, p 23 (April 20, 1973) considered the laws governing
townships, including the then-applicable version of the Act, and concluded that
townships did not have the authority to charge for fire runs. 1978 PA 101 amended Section 1(3) of the Act, MCL 41.801(3), to authorize
township boards to defray the costs of providing fire protection services with
the "[c]ollection of fees for services." See OAG, 1979-1980, No 5538, p 339
(August 10, 1979), which concluded, in light of this addition to the Act, that a
township board may impose fees for fire protection services. In a general updating of township statutes, 1989 PA 81 deleted the authority
in section 1 of the Act, MCL 41.801, for the billing of fire runs. Shortly
thereafter, however, 1990 PA 102 restored and enlarged the authority for the
billing for fire protection services with the addition of section 6a of the Act,
MCL 41.806a, providing in relevant part: The legislative body of a municipality providing emergency police or fire
service or the legislative bodies of municipalities acting jointly to
provide such a service pursuant to this act may authorize by ordinance the
collection of fees for the service. [Emphasis added.] A bill analysis for this amendment noted that 1989 PA 81 had "inadvertently
deleted" the authority for fire runs. The analysis further explained that the
amendment would also enable villages and small cities (as well as townships) to
collect these fees plus fees for emergency police services, since townships
often provide these services in cooperation with villages and small cities under
the Act: Public Act 101 of 1978 amended Public Act 33 of 1951 to permit a township
board, or boards acting jointly, to provide that the costs of purchasing and
housing fire equipment, operating that equipment, or contracting for fire
protection could be defrayed by the collection of fees for services. Public
Act 33 already allowed townships to impose a special assessment to pay for
these costs. With the recodification of the laws governing general law
townships, however, the provision permitting the collection of fees was
inadvertently deleted under Public Act 81 of 1989. Senate Bill 710 would not
institute a new fee for townships, but simply would restore their authority
to collect these fees. The bill also would authorize villages and small
cities to collect fees for emergency police and fire services. Under Public
Act 33, townships can contract with other municipalities for police or fire
protection, and contiguous townships, cities, and villages can create joint
police and fire administrative boards. [Senate Legislative Analysis,
SB 710, February 4, 1991.] Townships have only those powers conferred by law. Hanslovsky v LeLand
Twp, 281 Mich 652, 655; 275 NW 720 (1937). Section 11(1) of the Act, MCL
41.811(1), authorizes the "governing bodies of 2 or more contiguous townships,
villages, or qualified cities" to, "acting jointly, create a joint police
administrative board, fire administrative board, or police and fire
administrative board." Section 6a of the Act explicitly authorizes the "legislative
bodies of municipalities acting jointly" to provide emergency fire service
to adopt ordinances for the collection of fees for these services. MCL 41.806a.
(Emphasis added.) No provision of the Act authorizes one municipal legislative
body to adopt a single fire service fee ordinance that would be effective
outside its own territory and into the territories of the other participating
municipalities through an agreement creating a joint fire board under section 11
of the Act. Under the rules of statutory construction, where the language of a
statute is clear, judicial construction is neither required nor permitted. The
statute must be applied as written. Piper v Pettibone Corp, 450 Mich 565,
571-572; 542 NW2d 269 (1995). This conclusion is buttressed by one of the
leading treatises on the law of municipal corporations, which states the general
rule regarding the territorial reach of local ordinances as follows: Municipal ordinances are necessarily local in their application. Usually
they operate only in the territory of the municipality by which they are
enacted and can have no force beyond it. At least, without a grant of power,
ordinances cannot operate beyond the corporate area. [5 McQuillin, Municipal
Corporations (3rd ed, 2002 Cum Supp), � 15.30, p 176 (footnote
omitted). See also Deneen v Houghton County Street-Railway Co, 150
Mich 235, 239; 113 NW 1126 (1907).] Moreover, no other statutory authority empowers one municipality's
legislative body to adopt a fire service fee ordinance that would apply within
the territories of other participating municipalities acting jointly to provide
fire service in the absence of those municipalities taking similar legislative
action within their respective jurisdictions. Nor does any other statute
authorize the imposition of a municipality's fire service fee ordinance in other
municipalities through an agreement creating a joint fire board under section 11
of the Act. The procedure for the adoption of ordinances by general law townships is set
forth in MCL 41.181 � 41.186 and for charter townships in MCL 42.20 � 42.23. The
procedure for the adoption of ordinances by general law villages is set forth in
MCL 66.1 � 66.4 and for home rule villages in its charter provisions adopted
pursuant to MCL 78.23 � 78.25b. In the absence of an ordinance applicable to a
person or entity being billed for a fire run that has been adopted by the
legislative body of the village or township where the fire protection run took
place, neither the municipality nor the fire board has a basis on which to bill
a person or entity for fire service fees. It is my opinion, therefore, that a municipal ordinance imposing fees for
fire service runs adopted pursuant to MCL 41.806a may only be applied within the
territory of that municipality. In order for participating townships acting
jointly with a village to impose fees for fire service runs within their
respective territories, each must adopt its own authorizing ordinance under MCL
41.806a. MIKE COX
MUNICIPALITIES:
Municipal authority to bill for
costs of fire protection services
State Representative
The Capitol
Lansing, MI 48909
Attorney General