NO. Cost Recovery is not double taxation. It decidedly is not a “crash tax” as the insurance industry likes to label cost recovery. Cost recovery is not a tax, it is a user fee. The at-fault, negligent driver used the municipality or special purpose district fire response services. Thus, all costs recovered are a direct benefit to the tax payer and community serviced by the local fire department.

If a municipality were to hold a referendum on cost recovery from at fault drivers versus raising taxes, the out come is very predictable. Opponents of cost recovery also claim that insured drivers are being discriminated against because uninsured drivers generally will not have to pay for first responder services. However, uninsured drivers run the risk of great financial exposure and, in most states, are at risk of having their car impounded, losing their license or both.