INDIANAPOLIS— On February 22, the Wayne Township Board will discuss merging fire services with Indianapolis.
The Wayne Township Trustee Jeb Bardon says the township can no longer afford to run its own fire department.
In the meantime, they’ve made a cost-cutting decision impacting firefighters who’ve been injured on the job.
Justin Graves worked as a firefighter for Wayne Township from 2003 until his medical retirement in 2017.
“I miss the firehouse,” said Graves. “I miss serving the community.”
A heart attack and a back injury forced Graves to retire from the Wayne Township Fire Department, said Graves.
"My job-related injury is primarily my back,” said Graves. “I had a ceiling collapse on me at one point in a fire. I was also giving medical care to a heavy gentleman and fell down the stairs carrying the gentleman."
Graves is one of 24 medically retired firefighters in Wayne Township.
For years, he’s paid $80 a month for health insurance.
“My medications were fully covered, my doctors’ visits were fully covered,” said Graves. “I had no copays. No deductibles."
Because of a township cost-cutting measure that took effect January 1, Graves and other medically retired firefighters will now have to pay more than $250 a month in premiums, plus a $500 deductible, out of pocket expenses and copays to see their doctors.
“It crushed me,” said Graves. “Just the weight of the financial burden that I know I'm going to have now because of that."
WRTV Investigates took our questions to Wayne Township Trustee Jeb Bardon.
“Wayne township is in a financial crunch,’ said Bardon. “It comes down to our expenses are exceeding our revenue. And we have major financial issues on the horizon."
Wayne Township did a study last year and learned it would need $7 million in taxpayer money to fund health insurance for its retirees and could run out of money before 2032.
“It’s a growing concern because three people a year are going onto that medically pensioned firefighter insurance, so that number keeps growing as a percentage of our budget,” said Bardon. “So there is a long term concern about how we pay for all that. Taxpayers would be on the hook for that.”
It’s one of the reasons why the township is looking to merge with the Indianapolis Fire Department (IFD) and making cuts to benefits impacting injured firefighters.
"We are not a fully funded retiree health insurance fund,” said Bardon. “The city of Indianapolis and IFD have a fully funded health insurance fund. They're better off with IFD."
The trustee emphasized they’re required by law to cover the cost of a firefighter’s on the job injury, but not the rest of the body.
The cuts they’re making impact medical coverage for firefighters’ other health issues.
For examples, in Graves’ case, his back is considered the on the job injury but his heart attack was not, but he still receives medical care for his heart issues.
“Historically, we’ve covered everything,” said Bardon. “This is a change for folks."
Not everyone’s health benefits are getting cut.
WRTV Investigates found the township trustee and his 25 employees will not have to pay more for their health insurance.
Bardon said the average township worker makes $40,000/year.
“We were sensitive to the fact that we could not raise the cost of their health insurance,” said Bardon. “It's two very different tax districts. The trustee side of the budget is balanced. The fire side of the township is not, and that's the problem.”
Bardon said while he has been trustee for two budget cycles, he has not taken a raise.
The trustee said he is aware of the message he’s sending when making cuts to medically retired firefighters.
“It is one of our main focuses of why we are going through this merger process is we don't want to get to the point where we are making horrible cuts to anyone in our fire department,” said Bardon.
The Wayne Township Board and Indianapolis City County Council both still have to sign off on the merger.
Meanwhile, Justin Graves and his wife are now trying to figure out how to budget for thousands of dollars in medical expenses this year.
"I'm just being honest,” said Graves. “I have had discussions with my wife where we might have to sell our house."
Graves said after putting his life on the line for more than a decade for Wayne Township, it all feels like a slap in the face.
"It's just not fair, it's not right that those of us that are impacted the most by our injuries and need the insurance the most,” said Graves.
WRTV Investigates asked Trustee Jeb Bardon about Graves specifically.
“We are going to do everything we can to help him,” said Bardon. “I don’t want him to feel that way because we are committed to taking care of him.”
