ThisWeek CW 10/9/2014
http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/canalwinchester/news/2014/10/06/township-fire-chief-makes-case-for-levy-in-spring.html
Madison Township officials returned to Canal Winchester City Council last week with an update on plans to place a nearly 4-mill levy on the spring ballot.
Madison Township Fire Chief Robert Bates said if a 4-mill levy — if that is the amount chosen — is approved, it would cost taxpayers about $140 more per $100,000 worth of property valuation.
He presented these figures, along with a more in-depth review of the department’s five-year-plan, at council’s Sept. 29 Committee of the Whole meeting.
“We need to take a look at how we want to finance everything, so this is still in discussion, but we want to implement the purchase recommendations, and as part of the levy, there would be the construction and equipment costs for a new facility on Noe Bixby Road with staffing for a three-person medic unit,” Bates said.
He estimated the new facility and medic unit would cost about $4 million, with annual operating costs of $1.6 million.
“This is more expensive than replacing one of our old medic vehicles because a new medic needs all new equipment, like defibrillators, etc., instead of just swapping that out between an old truck and its replacement,” Bates said.
Since 2004, according to department records, the total number of responses for the department has steadily in-creased from about 4,200 to an anticipated 6,100 this year.
The larger volume, combined with staff reductions, has required more mutual-aid responses and, Bates said, is why the department needs to add the new facility and staff.
“In the past several years, we’ve eliminated four positions to meet our budgetary and fiscal constraints,” he said. “Along those lines, we have 12 other folks who are eligible to retire, so succession planning has become a big part of this process.”
He added that during its last collective bargaining negotiations, the department increased the requirements for becoming a lieutenant and battalion chief “so we’re able to do more training up front to make sure they know what they’re signing up for.”
Along with these staffing issues, revenues for the department have taken a hit, he said.
“Our department’s receipts have decreased as a combination of forfeiture of revenue due to economic development incentives, changes in the state’s tangible personal property and CAT (commercial activity tax), as well as decreases in property values,” Bates said.
“While the state says budgets are safe at the moment, we’re only safe until the next General Assembly budget. Our total foregone taxes from 2013 included $1,840,261.72.”
The largest portion of the lost revenue is associated with economic development initiatives, according to fire department documents, including about $1.3 million from CRA (community reinvestment areas) and tax-abatement agreements.
Besides staffing and capital improvements, new service and equipment requirements on the horizon are part of the plan for revenue generated by the levy, including the possibility of providing paramedicine services to some area residents.
Paramedicine is the use of paramedic units to provide primary care-type services to underserved communities, and may be required under the Affordable Care Act.
“We’re watching closely to see how the Affordable Care Act plays out because we may need to provide services you haven’t typically seen a fire department doing,” Bates said.
“Also, the state is implementing a new version of the MARCS (multi-agency radio communication system) and potentially rolling out what’s called enhanced 911, which allows online-based 911 calls.”