October 27, 2005

By Lauren Heaton

Miami Township Fire-Rescue is asking voters to approve a 3.8-mill levy renewal on the Nov. 8 ballot.

The levy, Issue 17 on the ballot, would provide $348,000 a year in operational funds for the fire and EMS service provider of Yellow Springs and Miami Township. The levy would go into effect in 2006.

Levy funds are the only source of revenue for department, which relies heavily on volunteers.

Fire Chief Colin Altman and Lamar Spracklen, the president of the Board of Trustees, say the levy is needed to maintain the Township’s current emergency service system and to allow MTFR to continue not to charge local residents for services.

“The fall levy is critical for us because our entire budget depends on it. If it fails, we have no money in the budget and the trustees could be forced to fund us through the general fund,” Altman said. “One of the things we’ve been stressing with the November levy is that this one has no tax increase. If you have doubts about a tax increase, vote for this one, which doesn’t increase taxes at all.”

The fact that Fire-Rescue is a public service that does not rely on outside financial help but on local funding and volunteers who benefit from the service is an encouraging sign for Spracklen, who thinks that the department provides excellent fire and EMS protection.

Many townships in the area and around the country are beginning to charge residents for emergency services, he said.

“Our main concern is that if we get away from a free fire and emergency service, there are people with limited incomes who would hesitate to call for EMS services,” he said. “I personally lean toward being self-sufficient.”

The fire levy would cost $94.28 a year for the owner of a property valued at $100,000, Altman said.

The levy does not constitute a tax increase for residents.

However, next spring Miami Township plans to seek a supplemental equipment levy that would generate an additional $90,000 to $100,000 for the department. The equipment levy would cost residents with property valued at $100,000 an additional $20 to $30 a year, Altman said.

In August, the trustees had agreed to place on the ballot a 3.8-mill replacement levy, which would have generated approximately $443,000 a year for the fire department.

But the Township mistakenly submitted the levy application as a renewal, which maintained property taxes at the same rate they have been since 2000, the last time voters approved the fire levy. The error was irreversible, and the Township was forced to seek a second levy.

“There hasn’t been an increase in taxes for the fire department in essentially 10 years, but operating costs are significantly increasing along with everything else,” Altman said. “The spring levy is critical in terms of funding our future needs and allowing us to continue to respond in the best way we can to the people.”

Both levies would support the fire department’s first strategic plan, which the trustees approved last summer. The trustees and the MTFR strategic planning committee agreed that budget increases were needed to recruit and retain more fire and EMS volunteers and that capital expenditures were needed to maintain the department’s aging fleet of emergency vehicles.

The plan, which can be accessed at www.mtfr.org, recommends that the department spend approximately $60,000 to raise staff reimbursement rates and increase paramedic and part-time staff coverage to boost volunteerism and provide better fire and EMS coverage. The plan also recommends MTFR spend approximately $31,000 on capital purchases to fund a 10-year vehicle replacement schedule and pay for additional safety equipment and maintenance fees.

The levies also would support the department’s rising operating costs, which include salaries, insurance, fuel, training, maintenance and supplies.

“The increase next spring is necessary because the cost of equipment, trucks, medics, fire engines and fire department salaries are all going up every year,” Spracklen said. “We’ve been getting the job done without an increase in millage in the last five years, but we need an increase now to cover these things.”

Last year the fire department responded to 980 calls, 75 percent of which were medical emergencies, and its nearly 50 volunteers donated over 11,000 hours of scheduled and on-call service, according to Altman. The department also provides educational services and CPR training to community members as well as enforcing the fire code and regulating underground tanks.

“The essential thing is that people vote yes now, so that we can keep operating,” Altman said. “Then we can see what happens in the future.”

Contact: lheaton@ysnews.com