FDNY hires collection agency

The Fire Department of New York City will try to get back some of the money it is owed from unpaid ambulance fees by selling the debt to a debt collection agency. The New York Daily News reports that the FDNY is seeking to recover some of the $50 million it is owed by people who have yet to pay the fee for riding in an ambulance. The fire department will sell the debt at a discounted rate to the agency in hopes of getting some of the money back that it is owed. A spokesman for the fire department said that the city was in dire need of the funds and that the department had little choice. "We do have an obligation to taxpayers, especially in these tough fiscal times, to recover as much in fees for services rendered as possible," said FDNY spokesman Frank Dwyer in an interview with the paper. A town in Idaho took similar measures in order to collect unpaid fees. The Idaho Mountain Express reports that the town of Ketchum has hired an agency to pursue the $109,000 it is owed in unpaid tickets.