Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
Allen-Clay Joint Fire District officials are seeking two millages on the November ballot, a five-mill levy for operations and a three-mill levy for staffing.
Neither of these levies are at all associated with the Clay Township police levy, and vice versa. The police levy doesn’t fund anything with Allen-Clay Joint Fire District, which has been a point of confusion for residents and area officials due to the Ohio Revised Code’s ballot language requirements.
The five-mill continuous levy, a replacement that would generate $1.4 million, helps fund operations and equipment at a cost of $175 annually per $100,000 valuation. Passage would bring the rates up to reflect today’s new home valuations compared to 2009 when it was originally passed.
The three-mill levy is a new tax. It would help fund additional, full-time firefighter staffing, generating $886,000 and costing $105 annually per $100,000.
Combined the two levies total $280 annually, which is a net increase of $179 per year compared to the singular $101 annual cost on the current 5-mill levy.
Should it pass, the three-mill levy would be used to fund up to nine additional full-time firefighter paramedic/EMTs.
“The goal is nine,” district fire chief Mike Musolf said. “I’m not sure if we can get there based on other departments hiring spots and (seeing them) hardly getting enough applicants to fill the spots. We have quite a few internal people that we believe would be good candidates, and certainly the opportunities could be there for external employees, as well.”
Musolf said that would help satisfy the goal to have three firefighters per shift per day. Along with two part-timers per shift, that would bring them up to five people on duty, staffed, and ready to go, plus the two administrators, Musolf, and the other full-time battalion chief.
Part of the reason for wanting to hire additional full-time staff, Musolf said, is that part-time staffing “just isn’t working anymore.”
“We just don't have the personnel working the part-time shifts, especially on the paramedic side when those shifts aren't filled, which means myself or the battalion chief have to fill those spots,” he said. “We're working additional hours. It's not like we're not staffing that position. We just don't have the people to put in that position anymore. Fifteen, even 10 years ago, all those shifts were filled. We didn't have to worry about that. Now we do.”
In regard to the five-mill operations levy, Musolf said the department has two fire engines that are 35 and 30-years-old that still serve as primary response rigs, and they really shouldn’t be around for more than 25 years.
The department also has two sets of extrication equipment that are around 12-13 years old, and there’s ambulances that need replaced in the face of rising costs. In fact, their newest fire engine, which was purchased in 2017 at a cost of $300,000, can’t be purchased for less than $600,000 in today’s economy.
“We've done a really good job of budgeting,” Musolf said. “And then with COVID and costs elevating, prices alone have almost made it impossible for communities to stay up to date on the replacement plans.
“We just have a lot of equipment that we've been putting band-aids on because stuff has just become so expensive, and now it's starting to affect things like that 35-year-old fire engine that is currently out of service and at the repair shop because it lost its brakes. It's not a good look.”
Musolf said the operations levy would also help with potential renovations at two of their three stations, which were built approximately 70-90 years ago.
“Certainly our new station is in good working order, and I’m not saying that we necessarily need to build new fire stations, but we certainly have issues with those (other two) stations that need to be repaired, which are costly. New roofs need to be put on.
“There's a lot of things that we've just been kind of kicking the can down the road a little bit just to keep operations going. It’s just getting to the point where we have to put a levy on (the ballot).”
Musolf said one of the things he was asked is, ‘Why now?’
“It doesn't seem like the best timing, and we certainly understand that,” he said. “We were hopeful for a better time. It was just not the best time to put a levy on (previously), and now we're almost meeting that hard-stop deadline.
“We're still going to be in operation. We’re certainly not looking at taking away services or not providing services. It's just what can we afford and what does the community want? This was kind of the opportunity to say here's where we are. I think that we've done a pretty stellar job of not being on the ballot every couple years asking for more, and kind of trying to do more with less, as they say.”
