August 11, 2005

By Lauren Heaton

At a special meeting on July 28, the Miami Township trustees and the Miami Township fire department strategic planning committee came to a mutually satisfactory agreement on the budgeting of the funds from the 3.8-mill fire levy that will appear on the Nov. 8 ballot.

Though the trustees agreed in July to place before voters a levy that was 0.4 mills below the amount the fire department strategic plan team recommended, Miami Township Fire-Rescue representatives expressed support for the reduced budget established by the trustees.

“We were certainly hoping that the board would approve our suggested millage rate, and we entered the special meeting hoping to see how the plan would be 100 percent funded with the lower millage rate,” Fire Chief Colin Altman said on Monday. “The thing that gave us comfort was that the board agreed to make up any shortfalls.”

According to the minutes from the special meeting on July 28, the trustees committed to taking the necessary measures, including floating an emergency levy, if the capital needs of the fire department’s strategic plan exceed the revenue estimated by the Greene County auditor’s office in the next five years. Tax revenue for the fire department has been below the auditor’s estimates in past years, according to Altman.

“That was our primary concern, that those fluctuations would affect our ability to fund the plan,” Altman said. “I’m glad the board continues to support the plan and the fire department. I just hope it will be enough.”

At 3.8 mills, the five-year fire levy would generate $443,000 annually, according to the county auditor’s office.

The strategic plan team recommended that the trustees pursue a 4.2-mill levy that would generate the $479,000 per year needed to fully fund the plan over the next five years.

The trustees fully funded the $14,000 recommended in the strategic plan for volunteer recruitment and retention measures, as well as the $11,300 requested to increase on-call paramedic coverage. The fire department requested $29,000 for a third full-time support staff member and $14,000 for additional part-time coverage, which the trustees funded at a slightly reduced rate of $23,000 and $14,000, respectively. The trustees also fully funded capital expenses of $6,200 for safety equipment, cameras and apparatus maintenance costs.

Requests made by the strategic plan team that were not funded include $3,200 for a facilities evaluation consultant and $2,000 to repave the Clifton Fire Station parking lot.

The only other item that was significantly reduced was an annual commitment of $44,600 to use toward the purchase of new fire department apparatus, including a $500,000 quint engine and an additional fire engine. The trustees estimated that the fire department could purchase one additional vehicle, a slightly used quint or a regular fire engine.

Trustee Chris Mucher said that the trustees have funded “virtually 100 percent” of the personnel support and recruitment and retention efforts the department requested. Most of the reductions in capital equipment were due to the elimination of the extra fire truck and the new quint, he said.

“We’re committed to funding the fire department at the level the community is accustomed to, and we feel we can fund it sufficiently at 3.8 mills,” Lamar Spracklen, the president of the Board of Trustees, said during the trustees’ regular meeting on Aug. 1.

Yellow Springs resident Diane Petzold, a member of the strategic plan team, said after the July 28 meeting that she was impressed with the balance that was struck between the fire department, which wants to provide the best service to the community, and the Board of Trustees, which wants to spend the community’s tax dollars wisely.

“I found it was an elegant compromise…and a really healthy kind of check and balance,” Petzold said. “There was a diverse enough set of voices on how to use the money that enabled us to find a strong solution, and it means we don’t have to compromise on the services at all.”