Voters in St. Albans Township successfully passed a 10-mill fire levy to keep the St. Albans Fire Department functioning in the May 6 primary election, with 56.31% of voters in favor of the levy. 

It was the department’s third consecutive attempt at a property tax levy after levies failed in both March and November last year. 

Because the levy passed, the fire department will be able to remain open for the foreseeable future. 

Michael Theisen, Fire Chief of St. Albans Township Fire Department, warned St. Albans Township and Alexandria residents that if the fire levy in the May primary failed the fire department would most likely close due to lack of funding. 

“Not to be blunt: Without funding, obviously, there is no fire department,” Theisen said at an Alexandria Village Council meeting on April 1.

The new 10-mill levy will raise $1.31 million annually for five years and will cost property owners $318 per $100,000 in appraised property value. About 56% of residents voted for the levy, and about 44% voted against the levy – a total of 499 residents voted. Theisen said this levy passing ensures that the fire department has the community’s support. 

Voters rejected St. Albans Fire Department’s first levy request in March 2024.  The proposed  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.

In November, voters rejected the second levy attempt. The proposed levy would have increased the existing levy from $200 to $245 for every $100,000 of property value.  Due to the November fire levy failure, St. Albans Township and Alexandria residents have seen a 50% reduction in their property taxes.  

The department closing is no longer an immediate concern, but when the levy expires in five years the St. Albans Fire Department will have to pass a new levy to keep the department operating.

“The biggest thing is going to be playing a little bit of catch up with some of the funds,” Theisen said. 

Although the fire levy passed, Theisen said that there is still work to be done with managing the budget. Since they lost the levy in November, the department hasn’t gotten any funding during this calendar year. So for now they will wait for this levy’s funds to come in 2026. 

The funding will maintain the current state of the operation by assisting with equipment replacement costs. 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. 

Theisen believes that the past levy failures were due to residents not having all of the information about the fire levy’s significance. 

“I think there was a large hurdle of information that we were trying to get over, because information is tough to get out there and it’s tough to communicate,” Theisen said. 

Despite the levy failures, Theisen said he never lost confidence in the performance or service of the fire department. And he believes that the community always appreciated the fire department.

“We’re excited to move forward,” Theisen said. “There’s still plenty of work to be done.”

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.