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Without levy, rescue services threatened
(by Joseph Koziol Jr. - February 11, 2009)
Without levy, rescue services threatened
By JOSEPH KOZIOL JR.
A fire and rescue levy that will go before Chardon Township voters in November is critical to maintaining the service as residents know it, Township Trustee Steven Borawski said.
If the levy fails, the township may have to eliminate rescue services because of a lack of funding, he said last week. "If the levy does not pass, we have no money."
The amount and duration of the levy have not been decided, but it will not resemble the continuing levy that was defeated by township voters in November. The township had asked residents to consider a 3.5-mill continuing levy, which was intended to free the township from repeated requests for money. The levy failed, 1,707-1,125.
Mr. Borawski said the levy that residents will see in November will be more in keeping with the traditional five-year terms in hopes that they will find it more palatable.
The existing 2-mill levy, which generates approximately $271,100 each year, is due to expire at the end of 2009.
The Chardon Fire Department, which serves the township and other area communities, has projected a $413,674 cost in 2010 for fire and rescue services.
Without the levy passage, Mr. Borawski said, the township may be able to find money for fire services but will likely have to drop rescue services.
In order to pay for rescue services, he said, the township would have to take money from other sources, leaving little to operate with, Mr. Borawski said. "We would have to shut down completely."
He said money generated by the township's road and bridge levy would allow the township to only retain a few road employees, who would basically be left to fill potholes, but not make any major road repairs.
"We would go back in time and everything goes back to dirt," he said. "The general fund is stretched to the point where we couldn't do anything."
Rather than face that scenario, he said, it may be better to just eliminate rescue services.
His research of Ohio law, he said, shows that township boards are only required to provide fire protection.
Township Fiscal Officer Joan Windnagel said she was unsure where that left the township. She said other fire departments provide mutual aid but wonders whether their articles of incorporation or restrictions on local levy money may inhibit their ability to serve Chardon Township.
Chardon Fire Chief Larry Gaspar said he did not want to comment on the matter until he could speak with Chardon Trustees. He said he would likely attend their next meeting to address it.
Mr. Borawski said while the elimination of rescue services is a possibility, he believes it is a remote one. He said he is confident residents will see the need and pass the levy. He said the continuing nature of the last levy was new to residents and probably was a factor in its defeat.
He said the township is planning to send newsletters to inform the public of the facts before the next levy attempt.
The township now has an ambulance billing program in which residents and nonresidents are billed the same, as required by law. However, he said, residents are billed and whatever their insurance pays is accepted as final payment. Nonresidents, he said, must make up the difference when the insurance company does not pay the full amount.
He said that program was established to subsidize the township's fire levy. He said trustees always figure that if the fire department contract is a certain amount, that a portion will be paid from the ambulance-billing program.
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