The city’s last tax levy request for fire department funding was in 2012. The city promised not to come back to voters for 10 years, and now it’s been 13 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and school levy issues.
“We’ve gone over 12 years now with no additional money. It’s just time. We’ve got to increase our revenues,” Fire Chief Daniel Stitzel said previously.
The Franklin Fire Division last year responded to 669 fire calls and 2,182 EMS calls for a total of 2,851 incidents.
City officials said the average age of the fire division’s vehicle fleet is 22 years, and that comes with rising maintenance costs, including $176,000 in emergency repairs. They said the department has a staffing shortage and a grant that helps pay for personnel is expiring at the end of 2026.
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