By BOB SHRALUKA
WZBD.com
“If you have any questions we can sit down and talk about it,” Decatur Mayor Dan Rickord told two township trustees at the May 5th meeting of the city’s board of works and safety.
Root Twp. Trustee Fred Kunkel and Washington Twp. Trustee Corey Affolder attended the meeting, knowing there would be some discussion on another increase in the city’s charge to four townships for fire protection.
The board raised the fees charged the townships – Root, Washington, St. Marys and Union – by 3% in June of last year. Board members made it clear at that time that more hikes will be coming in the years ahead.
“We decided to raise it (the fees) a bit each year,” the mayor said.
The increases followed the discovery that the charges had been unchanged since some time in the 1970s.
The realization there was a need for increases came about as the board and city council were deciding how to pay for a new $2.7 million aerial ladder truck for the Decatur Fire Department.
It was discovered that the four townships were providing just 10% of the city’s fire department budget while 22% of the city’s fire (and some medical) runs were being made to those townships.
At the recent meeting, Decatur Fire Chief Jeff Sheets pointed out that two fires in St. Marys Township last year cost his department approximately $13,000 – while the township’s fees would have totaled just $12,000 before last year’s increases.
Statistics complied by the fire chief showed the department’s total run volume for 2025 was 683.
Here are the figures:
City, 536. Root, 66. Union, 20. St. Marys, 24. Washington, 31. Note: 6 other runs were for mutual aid.
The department’s budget for this year amounts to $1,154,546.00.
Fire contract fees for this year are as follows:
St. Marys Twp.: $11,934.23.
Union Twp.: $10,608.25.
Root Twp.: $25,124.48.
Washington Twp.: $18,564.36.
The Decatur department’s budget for this year amounts to $1,154,546.00.
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