Property tax renewal on November ballot will support Washington Twp. fire services

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP. The Washington Township Fire Department has a brand new building. Now they need resources to operate it.

Voters in the township will see a five-year extension of the 2.5 mill property tax on the Nov. 5 ballot, which covers general operating costs of the fire department.

The extension means voters will not be required to pay additional taxes. This is a separate question from bond issue accepted in May 2021 for construction new facility on Vanderbilt Road.

“This is just an update and it’s exactly what we’ve done before,” said Annette Depue, the township’s chief financial officer. “It’s just supporting what they already support, not part of the cost of new construction.

“It’s an upgrade that still supports the staff and what they do to allow them to still serve the community — showing up on every call and maintaining equipment and things like that.”

Read the exact language of the newsletter:

PROPERTY TAX (UPDATE – 2.5 million, 5 YEARS, BEGINS 2025, FIRST TERM 2026) provision and maintenance of fire equipment, appliances, buildings or sites therefor, or water supply sources and materials for them, or the establishment and maintenance of fire protection lines. alarm telegraph, or payment to permanent, part-time or volunteer firefighters or fire companies for its operation, including payment of the firefighter’s employer contribution required under section 742.34 of the Revised Code, or for the purchase of emergency medical equipment, or for the provision of ambulance or emergency medical services assistance provided by the fire service or fire company

The city’s fire department is currently staffed by two employees, seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., with an after-hours duty program supplemented by volunteers.

The department takes about 1,000 calls a year, Chief David Compton said. He noted that with current staffing levels, this is a “pretty high” number of calls per year.

“The staff here are extremely dedicated to their department, not only answering calls, but also training and cleaning the facility and making sure the machines are clean, stocked and ready to go on the next call,” he said.

“They really make the fire department a fire department. They are the backbone.”

Compton said the property tax extension supports every department operation.

“It keeps the fuel we put in the trucks, it keeps the part-time staff paid, the stipends the volunteers get, it keeps the lights on here and everything about supplies,” he said.

“It keeps everything moving, every aspect of fire protection flows from the property tax extension.”

The Washington Township Fire Department currently covers an area of 28 square miles. This includes parts of the town of Mansfield, as well as the villages of Belleville and Lexington.

The new village building includes offices for city services and fire management, a city meeting room and community fitness center, five state-of-the-art equipment storage bays, and updated living quarters and amenities for firefighters.

Compton hopes the eight new bunk rooms will allow the department to house 24-hour staff in the future.

The force is also expected to increase in size with the opening of the new facility.

“The reason you need a modern facility is because it’s getting harder and harder to recruit volunteers, and if you have a dilapidated building to work from, it’s not very attractive,” Jack Butler, chairman of the village’s board of trustees, said at a facility ribbon . – cutting on October 4.

“But when they see this, they may be tempted by a career in EMS or fire safety.”