Residents of the Fire District will see a 1-mil fire protection replacement levy on the November 7 ballot that will replace a levy that was originally voted on in 2003. At the January board meeting of the Fredericktown Community Fire District the Board of Trustees voted unanimously to seek this replacement levy.
According to data from the Knox County Auditor’s Office the levy will generate an estimated $235,931 per year, up from the current $158,200. This breaks down to an estimated increase of $12.24 for every $100,000 of property valuation, or to break it down further about 3-cents per day.
“Our operational budget relies on the passage of the levies that exist for the fire district,” said FCFD Chief Scott Mast. “The members of this community that we serve have supported us extremely well and we are grateful for all they have done so that we can provide these critical services.”
The replacement levy will generate roughly $77,731 additional for the fire district per year just by funding being based off current property valuations.
“Discussions at board meetings about the eventual need for this go back over the last five years,” said Chief Mast. “A replacement levy essentially brings our funding back to a level prior to putting on daytime staffing and will allow us to focus additional on long term goals of the district.”
While this levy was voted on in 2003, the only reason it went before district voters then was to reword and remove the Village of Chesterville at that time. Realistically, the verbiage and milage from this levy date back to 1983.
A significant amount has changed since the levy was voted on in 2003, financial crisis, two recessions, and a worldwide pandemic just to name the major items that have significantly affected the economy in one form or another. Meanwhile the cost of operations across the board haven’t just increased, they have exploded.
“Very few entities that are funded by property taxes can say that they have went this long without seeking a renewal or change to increase funding and that is a significant accomplishment,” said Assistant Chief Jason Bostic. “We expect increases from time to time, but inflation and the cost of products and goods that are required in our line of work have had a tremendous financial impact.”
Expenses just aren’t on the rise, the call volume that the fire district handles has increased by 102-percent when this levy and rate was originally voted in. Some equipment and gear that the district purchases have seen price increases of over 500-percent in the last two decades.
“We can’t control the growth within the district, inflation, and cost of doing business,” said Assistant Chief Bostic. “We have utilized grants and other methods to save our taxpayers well over a half million dollars during the same time of this levy we are discussing. This has been diligent work on behalf of many with fiscal responsibility, leadership decisions, community support, and even creativity.”
The Fredericktown Community Fire District is a combination department of part-time and paid-per-call volunteers that provides fire and rescue services within our 118 square mile district. We operate from two firehouses, one in Fredericktown and the other at the Pike Township House. We have a total of nine apparatus within our fleet of vehicles. The FCFD currently
has 25 members with the majority possessing their Firefighter II certification. In addition to firefighters, we have eight fire cadets that are currently in high school that provide support functions. We have a diverse group of men and women that come from various backgrounds that fill the ranks of our department.
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