The township trustees have been debating asking voters to approve a new fire levy for almost a year, trying to decide not only how much money they need to cover growth, but also how much more residents can afford to pay.
They recently passed six resolutions requesting figures from the Butler County Auditor’s Office on how much a 3.25, 3.50 and 3.75 mills will bring in for both a five-year and continuous levy.
Farrell has been hesitant going to the ballot because he said he wanted to be absolutely sure their budget projections were correct and the need is really there.
“I’ve never gone through this before and before I went to the public and asked (for a levy) I wanted to verify beyond a shadow of a doubt that the numbers were in line,” he said and indicated his survey. “Clearly this to me, even though it’s not an exact science, made me feel not only beyond a shadow of doubt they were correct but proud to be part of an organization that’s this frugal.”
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Without additional funding, the fire department will be in the red by $115,490 at the end of next year and in the hole by almost $3.9 million when 2019 is over because township expenses are expected to increase by $3.7 million that year.
The township’s 2017 fire budget will go from $6 million to $8.8 million in 2019 — the amount includes a new fire truck and more staff — and will stay in the $8.5 million range for the foreseeable future. The two current continuous levies — voter approved in 1999 and 2010 — generate about $4.7 million.
Farrell said his “snapshot” is not an exact science because there might be some townships who bought expensive equipment like a fire truck last year which would skew the numbers a bit. He also had to use old census numbers so he was comparing apples to apples.
He drilled down Liberty’s numbers even further, taking into account all the growth that has occurred over the past seven years since the census. He said going forward the average fire and EMS budget for the township will be $8.3 million, from 2017 through 2022 and the average cost per resident will be $197 based on a population of 42,000. The average cost per resident for the other counties was $223. So Liberty’s cost is 12 percent below that average and will be 17 percent lower in 2022, based on a population of 44,783.
“Our budget is 12 percent below the average of all the townships in the state of Ohio that are our size,” Farrell said. “To me that’s a pretty darn good barometer that our budget is well within where it should be compared to our peers.”
The township’s finance committee has recommended a 3.75 mill levy on the November ballot.
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Property owners already pay about $170 annually per $100,000 of valuation for fire services. If the new issue is approved, it would cost an additional $131. Finance Director Michelle Greis noted the cost estimates the auditor gives for a $100,000 home are based on household tax bills. She said Farrell’s number are per-person.
Trustee Steve Schramm said when he took office he shared Farrell’s concerns about the budgets and this exercise has allayed those fears.
“It seemed on the surface, it was such a large part of our budget that potentially wasn’t being controlled,” Schramm said. “Tom took the lead on it which was fine by me and basically confirmed we’re not overspending. In fact we’re on the lower side of the curve, which adds credibility or justification for asking for the levy.”
Fire Chief Paul Stumpf, who is retiring in September, said setting budgets is really educated guesswork. Labor is the largest cost and that stays pretty stable. Maintenance and equipment are items that can vary. He said for instance a fire truck should last 15 to 20 years so they know when a truck needs to be put on their seven-year capital list, but if an older truck is requiring a lot of maintenance and repairs, a purchase may have to be pushed up.
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Growth is something you can’t predict, according to the chief.
“It’s a prediction, is it a hard, fast rule no,” Stumpf said. “Do I know 100 percent without a question of a doubt we need to replace this medic unit in this year? No that changes every year… Our needs 10 years ago, our needs five years from now are going to be different than they were 10 years ago.”
Farrell said one thing many residents don’t understand is as the township’s population grows, revenues don’t, hence the need for the levy. He explains it like this.
“I give them a simple scenario,” Farrell said. “10,000 people in the township, each one pays one dollar, we double to 20,000, each person is going to pay 50 cents… That’s what we’re dealing with, so if our population doubles we have no more money to operate and that’s what makes levies, in the public’s eye, is they are constantly coming up. It needs to be fixed.”
The trustees have until August to put a levy question on the ballot for November. The trustees have differed at times on the timing of the levy. Originally Farrell wanted to wait until a new fire chief can have input so he was advocating for May 2018. He changed his mind when staff showed him how deficits would balloon the longer they wait.
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Trustee Christine Matacic at first felt a sense of urgency for a ballot question, but then was leaning towards next year so they can capture more growth. She changed her mind.
“There’s not that much difference in valuation that will be added next year versus what was added this year,” she told this new outlet previously. “By waiting ‘til May we would probably have to go for a bigger levy than what we would go for now, because we’d be putting ourselves further in the hole.”
The township has a finance committee that includes staff, Schramm and six residents. Frank Peters said they are a pretty conservative bunch.
“We have always been very, very, very prudent,” Peters said. “That way we hope the confidence with our township residents is there that someday we may have to ask for money and they will not say ‘oh those guys are just asking for more money like they always do’. We have made the community very aware of our due diligence.”
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