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LIVERPOOL TOWNSHIP – Liverpool Township Volunteer Fire Department is asking voters to approve an additional fire levy when they go to the polls Nov. 3.
If approved, the 1.45-mill continuous levy is estimated to generate $127,425 annually. It will cost the owner of a $100,000 home $51 a year.
Trustee Mike Bahen said the department supports two stations. Last year it received $119,000. Of that funding, the department made two truck payments totaling $58,000 leaving $61,000 for the year to pay all utilities and insurance for two stations, insurance on eight trucks and Workers Compensation for the firefighters if there were injuries. Additionally, the department had to replace the boiler at the LaCroft station at a cost of $12,000.
Bahen said the boilers at both stations are about 30 years old and the boiler at the Dixonville station will need to be replaced in 2027 at an estimated cost of $12,000 to $13,000.
The department has six fire trucks that run on diesel, and the cost of fuel, with diesel currently over $6 gallon, has cut into the department's budget, Bahen said.
"These trucks have to be kept filled up. When a call comes in you do not know how long that truck will be out running at a fire," Baehn said. "You can't just drop everything and leave to go fuel up."
Bahen also noted the cost to suit up one firefighter is about $5,000, and the training for one firefighter is about $1,000.
Bahen said the township has always tried to keep costs down and buy as needed, not when wanted, and the township has not asked for a tax increase for the fire department in 16 years. He noted several nearby volunteer fire departments are receiving $250,000 annually per station, and the township isn't receiving half of that amount for two stations.
“The fire levy will benefit our residents and fire department by providing the funding needed to upgrade equipment, improve emergency response capabilities and ensure our first responders have the modern tools necessary to protect our community effectively," Fire Chief Jacob Russell said. "This levy is long overdue as we struggle year to year with the current funding situation."
Wayne Township Fire Levy
Wayne Township is also asking voters to approve a fire levy which is split between Highlandtown, West Point and Franklin volunteer fire departments.
The fire levy for the township runs out at the end of 2026, which is why the township is asking voters to approve the additional 3-mill, five-year levy which will generate approximately $78,781 annually. It will cost the owner of a $100,000 home $105 a year, which is a $25.16 increase from the levy that is expiring.
Township trustees emphasized that this is not adding another levy, but simply replacing the one expiring on Dec. 31. Trustees must seek the new levy at a higher millage since replacement levies, which allowed for changing the millage of an existing levy, have been eliminated by the state legislature.
When asked what happens if the levy does not pass, Wayne Township Fiscal Officer Carl Bartholow said there will be no money for the fire departments and people “will have to get out the garden hose if there is a fire.”