St. Albans Township Fire Department is making its third consecutive attempt at a property tax levy this May. The property tax levy is a renewal and an increase – three mills with an additional seven mills, for five years. Because the November fire levy failed, St. Albans Township and Alexandria residents have seen a 50% reduction in their property taxes.
“We have to recapture revenue from the levy that was lost. We have to recapture the levy that’s expiring this year, and then we have to go after the original three mills,” St. Albans Township Fire Chief Michael Theisen said at the Alexandria Village Council Meeting on April 1. “It looks insane, but it’s also recapturing everything you were already paying.”
The 10-mill levy would raise $1.31 million annually and would cost property owners $318 per $100,000 in appraised property value.
Voters rejected St. Albans Fire Department’s first levy request in March 2024. In November, the second attempt was rejected. The proposed levy would have increased the existing levy from $200 to $245 for every $100,000 of property value.
Read more: St. Albans Fire Department prepares for service cuts after 2024 levy failures
In the past, St. Albans Township hasn’t put permanent levies on the ballot, so the fire department has to put a new levy on the ballot every five years.
The proposed March 2024 levy, which 58% of voters – or 358 people – opposed, was a 10-mill “continuous” levy that would have increased property taxes from about $200 per $100,000 of property value to $350 permanently, according to the Newark Advocate.
“That’s what scares me – the permanence,” St. Albans Township Trustee Randy Almendinger said in discussing the failed levy last year.
But the levy increase is critical for the fire department, Theisen said, as the cost of emergency response equipment such as fire trucks continues to rise and staffing needs grow.
According to Theisen, right now, fire trucks cost $1.3-1.4 million and a medic truck would cost the department $380,000. Emergency vehicles do not last forever. Theisen said they need to raise money ahead of time, because to raise enough money to purchase a fire truck in a year through taxes would be expensive for citizens. So they must bring in money over longer periods of time.
While Theisen has been at St. Albans Fire Department, he has helped the department get $1.62 million in additional funding through grant writing and other programs. For example, the department received a Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant to pay for three firefighters’ positions. This grant will run out in 2026.
According to Theisen, in the past 30 days, the fire department has gone on 30 EMS runs and 46 fire runs. The department is made up of full-time and part-time employees, and relies on nearby departments to show up to emergencies, too.
“We don’t fight fires by ourselves, nor do we ask to have an operation that can handle every single incident,” Theisen said.
Fire spreads quickly. St. Albans Township Fire Department’s average response time is 8 minutes. If the fire department ends up closing due to a lack of funding residents will have to rely on nearby departments.
And according to the insurance company USAA’s website, a home’s proximity to a fire department affects the home owner’s insurance rate. The closer a home is to a fire department, the chances of fire damage are smaller. If St. Albans Township Fire Department closes, the next-closest fire department is Granville Township’s, an eight-minute drive – meaning home insurance rates will likely go up.
“They don’t understand what they’re getting for that,” Mike Miller, Alexandria Village Council president, said during the April 1 council meeting. “You use it one time or your neighbor uses it one time – I mean, it pays for itself.”
In May 2024, a two -alarm fire at 14 W. Main St. in Alexandria left 11 people and two businesses displaced after a fire broke out on the second floor of the building.
Theisen said they are fortunate the block is still standing after the large fire – in part because of the quick response by the St. Albans Fire Department.
Read more: Two-alarm fire in Alexandria displaces residents, businesses
If the May levy fails, there is still an opportunity for the St. Albans Fire Department to try again for another levy in the fall. The dollar amount would be the same because the fire department needs the money to continue to stay open.
“Not to be blunt: Without funding, obviously, there is no fire department,” Theisen said.
Early voting began on Tuesday, April 8, at the board of elections office at 20 S. 2nd Street in Newark. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays through April 25, 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. from April 28-May 2, and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, May 3, and 1-5 p.m. on Sunday, May 4. On Election Day, May 6, polls will be open 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Caroline Zollinger 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.