When Heath residents head to the polls on May 6, they’ll be deciding whether to continue supporting the city’s fire department through the renewal of a key funding source.
The ballot includes a proposed five-year renewal of a 1-mill property tax levy that helps fund fire protection and emergency medical services. The levy, originally passed in 2014 and renewed once in 2019, is not a new tax. If approved, it would cost property owners approximately $20 per $100,000 of appraised property value, generating an estimated $307,000 annually.
“This levy is all about purchasing equipment, not for any personnel costs,” said Fire Chief Warren McCord, who has served the Heath Fire Department for over 32 years, including the last nine as chief. “We’ve used that levy to purchase our rescue [vehicle], our engine at our other station, our station vehicles. Most recently, we used the money toward a new ladder truck we received in late October.”
The Heath Fire Department responds to roughly 2,400 emergency calls annually, serving a 12.5-square-mile area with a staff of 20 full-time firefighter-paramedics. While the department’s day-to-day operations are primarily funded through the city’s general fund, the levy helps purchase specialized, high-cost equipment that the chief says enables the department to maintain high standards of care and emergency response.
Heath Mayor Mark Johns emphasized the levy’s value to the city’s residents without increasing their financial burden.
“This is just simply renewing the existing millage for another five years,” he said.
If passed, the renewal would allow the department to continue replacing aging and increasingly obsolete equipment.
“We just purchased new heart monitors, LifePak 35s, to go on our medics,” McCord said. “We had LifePak 15s for over 15 years, but the company stopped making parts for them. So, if something breaks, we’re out of luck.”
In addition to the new heart monitors, McCord said he plans to use future levy funds to upgrade the department’s Lucas devices, which are used to perform automated chest compressions during CPR.
“The software in our current devices is outdated, and we’ve had them for a number of years,” he explained. “We need new ones to continue to provide the best care to our citizens.”
The department’s reliance on these levy funds highlights the cost of maintaining modern emergency response capabilities. For example, the recently acquired tower truck cost more than $1 million.
“If the levy wasn’t in place, it becomes much more challenging to make those purchases,” Johns said. “Other sources may take away from services that the residents in our community enjoy.”
Both McCord and Johns expressed confidence that the community understands what’s at stake.
“The vast majority of people I interact with in Heath find great appreciation for the fire department,” Johns said. “If they understand that this is a renewal and not a brand new levy, that alone sometimes moves the needle with undecided voters.”
If the renewal fails, Johns said city officials would likely consider reintroducing it in the November election. McCord, meanwhile, acknowledged that the department would need to find alternative funding to continue providing the same level of service.
“We’d need to look at either putting it back on the ballot or finding some other way to fund the equipment we need,” McCord said.
Looking ahead, both city leaders emphasized the importance of ongoing investment in public safety infrastructure. “This levy truly is going to help serve the citizens better as we move forward,” McCord said.
As Johns put it, “This is about continuing the services people rely on every day, not starting something new, but making sure we don’t lose what we’ve built.”
Noah Lebowitz writes for TheReportingProject.org, the nonprofit news organization of Denison University’s Journalism program, which is supported by generous donations from readers. Sign up for The Reporting Project newsletter here.