MORGAN COUNTY — Madison Township firefighters in Morgan County are asking residents to support them at the next advisory board meeting. A proposed tax increase would help better fund the fire department.
If that proposed tax increase isn't passed, firefighters are concerned about their future while some residents are concerned that their home insurance could increase.
"We struggle to retain firefighters because they can go to neighboring departments and make anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000 more a year doing the exact same job,” Nathan Meredith, the Morgan County Professional Firefighters Union Representative, said.
It's one reason Madison Township firefighters are asking the board to pass a draft budget. It would bump their pay by 5% in a competitive job market.
A tax levy increase would allow them to add another firefighter, which is something the township trustee says would be decided by the state.
The proposed tax levy is $125,000. He says the levy should be capped at 4% but since the township was assessed, its value went up almost $100 million.
He says the tax levy would cost residents $45-$50 a year.
Larry Ellis, the Madison Township Trustee, says he supports it.
The fire department could soon be required to run with four firefighters due to a decision the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is in the process of making. According to the trustee, currently, in rural areas fire trucks can run with three or four firefighters. If OSHA changes protocol, they could be required to have four firefighters to run a rig.
“I support it to a degree yes," Ellis said. "I think we don’t know what OSHA is going to do. But I’d rather be prepared than not prepared, and it’s not going to hurt us to have those people."
When it comes to increasing the tax rate that residents pay, it’s something that Meredith says is needed to run the fire department more efficiently.
They aren’t always fully staffed because they have a hard time retaining firefighters due to their current pay rate.
"If we could bring our fire tax rate back to the 2020 rate of, I believe it was, 20 cents per $100,” Meredith said. “That would give us what we needed."
Some residents back the tax increase.
Angie Turley, a local mortgage loan officer, says a drop in the fire department rating could double their home insurance rates. That fire rating could drop if the fire department is fully staffed.
"What we pay in this county versus what they pay in Johnson County is a third,” Turley said. “So for me, raise the taxes. I would rather have my house not burn down and increase property taxes."
Not everyone agrees. The Township Trustee says more than a hundred people signed a petition asking not to have a tax increase.
WRTV’s Meredith Hackler reached out to the person the Trustee said started the petition but didn’t get a response. He says he wants to see the fire department taken care of.
"If our budget were to be approved at the proposed budget, it would increase our taxes about a penny and a half per a hundred dollars per taxpayer,” Ellis said.
The Township board is expected to vote on the budget Tuesday night at 7 p.m. Details about that meeting can be found here.
