By BOB SHRALUKA
WZBD.com
The now-authorized purchase of a new aerial ladder truck for the Decatur Fire Department has sparked a close look at what the city is charging townships which pay for fire protection.
Fees from the four townships account for 6% of the city’s fire department budget, but 25% of the department’s runs are to the townships, Mayor Dan Rickord pointed out at the latest city council meeting.
The fees have stayed the same since some time in the 1970s, it was noted.
“Everyone should pay their fair share,” Rickord added. “City residents are subsidizing county residents.”
Asked if he had any recommendations, Fire Chief Jeff Sheets said he did not, but mentioned that the townships are constrained by property tax caps, as is the city.
Fire contracts approved 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.
Council members were given a list of numbers to ponder. “So take a look and we’ll go from there,” the mayor said.
COSTS MOUNTING: Decatur City Council recently approved an $800,000 appropriation to its budget as a down payment for a new aerial ladder truck for the fire department.
The final total cost for the truck will be around $2.5 million.
In addition, the department has a 2002 pumper truck – the oldest of its 11 trucks – which recently failed a Department of Transportation (DOT) inspection.
Local firefighters are trying to keep this one together, with rust and a bad leak being major problems, Sheets said at an earlier council meeting. If it cannot pass inspection in the next two years, “it will have to be pulled out of service,” the chief explained.
A replacement would likely cost $1 million to $1.2 million and would probably take three years to arrive.
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