Liberty Township is seeking renewal of a tax levy benefiting the township’s fire and EMS services on the Nov. 7 ballot. The levy, which was first approved by voters in 2013, is for a period of five years and at a rate not exceeding 5.6 mills.
The exact ballot language reads, “A renewal of a tax for the benefit of Liberty Township for the purpose of 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 firefighting companies or permanent, part-time, or volunteer firefighting, emergency medical service, administrative, or communications personnel to operate the same, including the payment of any employer contributions required for such personnel under section 145.48 or 742.34 of the Ohio Revised Code, or the purchase of ambulance equipment, or the provision of ambulance, paramedic, or other emergency medical services operated by a fire department or firefighting company that the county auditor estimates will collect $9,327,000 annually, at a rate not exceeding 5.6 mills for each $1 of taxable value, which amounts to $157 for each $100,000 of the county auditor’s appraised value, for 5 years, commencing in 2023, first due in calendar year 2024.”
Liberty Township Fire Chief James Reardon told The Gazette the levy is responsible for most of the department’s operating budget.
“The levy is a huge chunk of our operations, from paying firefighters, maintaining fire apparatus, all of the EMS equipment that we use,” he said. “We have to keep up with that equipment — items become outdated or obsolete. That levy generates money for us to have people to respond to 911 calls and provide the most up-to-date equipment possible.”
Reardon added, “The most important thing is it’s what’s allowing us to provide that service to them at the level that they expect it to be. We are one of 309 accredited agencies in North America, and I think that speaks volumes to us providing the level of services we say we do.”
Reach Dillon Davis at 740-413-0904. Follow him on Twitter @DillonDavis56.
