A unanimous vote to merge the Clay and Penn township fire territories and create a new seven-unit fire territory was approved Tuesday night with officials emphasizing the benefits.
The move creates a new, unified department covering German, Harris, Clay and Penn townships along with Roseland, Osceola and Indian Village.
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Officials say they felt moving forward under the new fire territory was crucial to providing the best service possible to all seven areas and bringing more resources for first responders.
“We’re going to be something new. We’re going to be something better than we have been separately,” said Clay Township Trustee Sean O’Brien.
That is the hope for the newly approved creation of a seven-unit fire territory.
Clay Fire Chief Jared Kilian says part of the need was to not only get more resources for the departments but also be able to respond to a rising number of calls in the community.
He says that in the last 15 years, they have experienced an increase in call volume of 30 to 40% of what they can meet.
“The way that were forecasted, are looking to exceed 10,000 calls for service by the year 2030, so there’s clearly a need in the community for these critical services by each of these individuals and all of These community fire stations to provide that critical service,” said Chief Kilian.
While first responders and board officials emphasize how the move will benefit the community for years to come, some residents think it was not the right way forward especially in relation to taxes.
“Our taxes are going to go up, and the tax money will be basically handed over to clay township to distribute. The firefighting tax right now is about $210 on $100,000 property. It’s going to more than double. Yeah, double. And people in our township are struggling,” said Penn Township resident Nancy Duncan
Clay township trustee Sean O’Brien emphasizes that only the fire territory aspect of taxes will increase not the entirety of a tax bill.
He says the rise is crucial to making sure the now unified territory can serve the area well into the future.
“Townships have a very limited way of increasing the size of their budget, and we were being asked to provide the same level of service with a diminishing amount of money, and so this new plan allows us to replenish those funds, pay our men and women what they deserve,” said O’Brien.
Kilian says leadership structure, territory name, and other details such as the tax increase rate are yet to be determined by a governing board.