Franklin City Council took the first step toward placing the permanent 4.9-mill levy on the Nov. 4 ballot by passing a resolution of necessity. The Warren County Auditor’s Office will certify the levy amount.
This was the same request for the Franklin Division of Fire & EMS on the May 6 ballot that failed by 73 votes.
“We didn’t have a great voter turnout,” Stitzel said of the special election. “We’re going to try again in November. We’re hoping to get a better representation, a better voter turnout.”
The city put out more information on the levy, did a podcast and gathered input through a community survey following the defeat at the polls, which Stitzel said showed support for the 4.9-mill levy. If approved, it would cost a homeowner $172 a year for each $100,000 of appraised property value; the owner of a $200,000 house would pay about $344.
The city’s last tax levy request for fire department funding was in 2012.
Levy approval would allow the fire division to maintain staffing levels after a grant that helps pay for personnel expires at the end of 2026 and update its fleet “so that we continue to provide the service that (residents) deserve and they need to protect the city,” the fire chief said.
The Franklin Fire Division last year responded to 669 fire calls and 2,182 EMS calls for a total of 2,851 calls for service. The city this year is on track to have a projected 700 fire calls and 2,200 EMS runs, Stitzel said.
The average age of the fire division’s fleet is 22 years, and Stitzel said Wednesday that a 26-year-old ladder truck with broken hydraulic lines is in the repair shop and that a fire engine has been out of service since March because they can’t find parts for it.
A ladder truck likely would still be able to respond from a surrounding community through mutual aid agreements, however, it will mean a longer response time, the chief said.
“This is just becoming a more and more common thing,” Stitzel said. “Repairs are becoming more costly, taking longer, apparatus becoming more unreliable.”
The fire levy would not be the only issue on the ballot for Franklin residents.
The Franklin City Schools is asking voters to approve a continuing 1% school district income tax following the defeat of property tax proposals in May and March 2024.
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