North Shelby Fire Department Business Office

***BUSINESS OFFICE HOURS***

September to February – MONDAY – THURSDAY  8:30 TO 5:00

March to August -TUESDAY – THURSDAY  8:30 TO 5:00

Business Office Phone: 205-991-6439 ext. 1
Business Office Cell: 205-821-4845
businessoffice@northshelbyfire.com

Glenda Jones – Office Manager

***DO NOT PAY AMBULANCE/TRANSPORT INVOICES THROUGH THIS PORTAL, PLEASE CONTACT 205-823-7076 FOR PAYMENT OPTIONS OR QUESTIONS***

Scroll to bottom to pay your fire dues.

Why do I have to pay fire dues?
Until 1978, there was no fire or emergency medical protection at all. Our Fire District was created by the Alabama Legislature in 1978 to provide fire and emergency medical protection to residents and property owners in this 27 square mile area of unincorporated Shelby County. We cover basically from Highway 280 to Interstate I-65 and roughly this side of Oak Mountain State Park to the Jefferson County line. We also contract with Wine Ridge subdivision in Jefferson County. The only revenue we have is from fire dues. We are not part of the County or any surrounding City. Fire dues are mandatory and we were not set up with any exemptions. We have the same lien rights as property taxes which leads many mortgage companies to escrow fire dues along with property taxes. You will need to check with your own mortgage company. Invoices, however, are ALWAYS sent to the property owner as they are ultimately responsible for the dues. Please call or email the Business Office if you have any other questions.

Payment Methods:
We now offer online payments! There is a convenience fee associated with doing this if you use a debit or credit card. If you set up an E-check, there is no fee. Please use the link on the right below.

Check / please include account number and telephone number on your check. Also, please do not staple checks.
Mail to: 4617 Valleydale Road, Birmingham, AL 35242 or use the locked dropbox by the front door.

We will accept Cash during regular business hours only. Firefighters cannot accept any payments.

We accept Visa, Master Card, Discover and American Express during regular business hours via phone or in person at the business office, if you are unable to use the link on this page.
Processing Fee for in office or phone payments over the phone payments  is 3.5% + 0.15 ¢

Payment Plans
As long as the balance is paid by December 31st, you may make as many small payments as needed. However, if you cannot have the balance paid by December 31st, please call the Office Manager to set up a payment agreement. A Rebilling fee will be added in January but once all agreed upon payments are made in a timely manner, it will be reversed if the payment plan is set up prior to December 31st. All payments plans must be completed/paid out by August 31st.

YEARLY BILLING

Bills go out the third week in September as a courtesy reminder. Fire dues are mandatory and must be paid in a timely manner. They are due October 1st and delinquent after December 31st. You are paying for the fiscal year which covers October 1st of this year through September 30th of the next year. Rebilling fees are added January 1st. These charges cannot be waived unless there has been a bookkeeping error on our part. Not receiving a bill does not constitute removal of rebilling fees. We are not responsible for address changes. It is the property owner’s responsibility to keep us informed of the correct billing address. If you sell your property, most title companies require an assessment letter stating whether dues are current. We will change the name on the account to the new owner at that time. However, you may want to contact us to make sure it was changed if an assessment letter was not requested. Fire dues on delinquent properties are turned over to an attorney who will try again to collect but, if unsuccessful, may result in foreclosure proceedings. The fire district has first lien rights above mortgage companies.

MORTGAGE COMPANIES

Mortgage companies have become more aggressive in paying fire dues. Unless specifically requested, we always send the bill to the property owner. We do not bill mortgage companies. When you receive your bill for fire dues, call your mortgage company to see if they will be paying them from your escrow account. Mortgage companies generally use third party tax services for items that can cause a lien to be placed on your property, i.e. taxes, fire dues, municipal assessments, etc. These institutions research your property to gather all that information (generally during October) and send it to your mortgage company. The mortgage company bills your escrow account (usually about the first of December) and pays the third party which in turn pays us (generally in the last couple of days of December). Payments made to us between October and December are not reflected in their records which will still show a balance due.

If your mortgage company sent you a letter stating that they paid your fire dues and you have paid them yourself.
We accept the first payment we receive, regardless of who pays it. Any other payments are returned to the payer. There will not be a double payment on your account and the mortgage company/tax service payment cannot be refunded to the property owner if they have already paid. Usually the property owner payment was received first and applied. The second payment has been returned to the mortgage company/tax service that sent it but the refund process generally takes 2 to 3 months to show the credit to your escrow account. Also, if they pay it once, chances are they will pay it again in the future. The best way to avoid the confusion is to let them pay it. If you are in doubt that it was paid, please call or text the NSFD Business Office and check. If they paid it in the past but not this time, arrangements for payment by the property owner can be made.

ASSESSMENT LETTER REQUEST
***Effective 10/1/21, assessment letter fees will be $30.00 regardless of who requests the letter.***
Assessment letter request should be emailed to assessmentletters@northshelbyfire.com Any faxed request will be returned via email if possible. There is a $30.00 charge. Please include the complete property address, seller and purchaser information, or owner information if it is for a refinance. Also include mailing address if different than the property address.