Property tax renewal on Nov. ballot would sustain Washington Twp. fire services
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP — Firefighters in Washington Township have a brand-new building. Now, they need the resources to operate it.
Voters in the township will see a five-year, 2.5 mills property tax renewal on the Nov. 5 ballot that covers the general operational costs of the fire department.
A renewal means no additional tax dollars will be asked of voters. It is a separate issue from the bond issue passed in May 2021 to build the new facility on Vanderbilt Road.
“It’s just a renewal, and it’s exactly what we have done before,” said Annete Depue, the township’s fiscal officer. “It’s just going to support the things they’ve already been supporting, not part of the new building costs.
“It’s a renewal to still support the staff and what they’ve been doing to allow them to still be at service for the community — to get to every call and maintain the equipment, things like that.”
Read the exact ballot language:
PROPERTY TAX (RENEWAL – 2.5 mills, 5 YEARS, COMMENCING 2025, FIRST DUE 2026) providing and maintaining fire apparatus, appliances, buildings, or sites therefor, or sources of water supply and materials therefor, or the establishment and maintenance of lines of fire alarm telegraph, or the payment of permanent, part-time or volunteer firefighters or fire-fighting companies to operate the same, including the payment of the firemen employer’s contribution required under Section 742.34 of the Revised Code, or to purchase ambulance equipment, or to provide ambulance or emergency medical services operated by a fire department or fire-fighting company
The township fire station is currently staffed seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. with two personnel, and an after-hours on-call program is supplemented with volunteers.
According to Chief David Compton, the department goes on approximately 1,000 calls a year. He noted at the current staffing levels, that’s a “pretty high” number of calls to go on per year.
“The personnel here are extremely dedicated to the department, not only responding to calls but also to training and cleaning the facility, and making sure the apparatuses are clean, stocked and ready to go on the next call,” he said.
“They are truly what makes the fire department, the fire department. They are the backbone.”
Compton said the property tax renewal supports every single department operation.
“It supports the fuel we put in the trucks, the payment of the part-time personnel, the stipend the volunteer personnel receive, it keeps the lights on here and everything functioning supply-wise,” he said.
“It keeps everything moving, any aspect of the fire department comes out of that property tax renewal.”
Currently the Washington Township fire department covers a 28 square-mile radius. This includes parts of the city of Mansfield, and the villages of Bellville and Lexington.
The township’s new facility includes offices for township services and fire department leadership, a township meeting hall and shared fitness space, five modern apparatus bays for storage, and updated living quarters and amenities for firefighters.
Compton hopes that eight new bunk rooms will allow for the department to accommodate 24-hour staffing in the future.
Growth of the force is also expected with the opening of the new facility.
“The reason you need a modern facility is, it’s getting tougher to get volunteers, and if you’ve got a rundown building to work in, that’s not very appealing,” said Jack Butler, chairman of the township trustees, at the facility’s ribbon-cutting on Oct. 4.
“But when they see this, they might be enticed into a career in EMS or fire fighting.”
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