Brookfield Fire Chief David Masirovits has proposed to the township trustees putting a referendum on the May 2025 ballot that would ask voters to replace all seven property tax levies currently in place to fund the department with new levies at the same tax rates but at today’s property valuations.

Masirovits did not have numbers to show the impact replacing the levies would have on individual property owners, but it would mean increasing the amount of money received by the fire department by about $649,000 a year, he said

Masirovits said his initial plan for the extra money would be to buy two new fire trucks, and then look to boost the pay of firefighters, hire more full-time staff to offset the loss of a part-time force and start replacing lesser-cost equipment.

“I am proposing that we as a township plan for our future in all aspects of emergency response but without a solid financial foundation we are not going to be much good when the call comes in and we do not have the personnel nor the equipment to provide response,” he said in a letter to the trustees dated Aug. 20.

The trustees have not discussed the request at length, and not since they received the letter.

“Our residents are real close to being overtaxed,” said Trustee Dan Suttles. “I hear it. I get calls from them daily, how the (property) reevaluation, which we had nothing to do with, is putting senior citizens in bad situations. Before I agree to a levy, I’m sorry, I’ve got to do a lot of deep thought. What we have to do to keep employees, what we have to do to keep fire trucks, that’s important to our community. But, our community is overtaxed.”

Trustee Mark Ferrara said he’s not against placing the levy on the ballot because the trustees themselves have only one vote each as to whether taxes go up.

“If we put the levy on, it’s the people that vote it, not us,” he said.

If the levy would succeed, Masirovits said his first action would be to replace two trucks he has taken out of service. One, a 39-year-old pumper truck housed at Station 51 on Addison Road, has been of minimal use for years, but the other has been a workhorse for the department. Engine 51, the pumper truck, has not passed a pump test for years, and now needs new tires, brakes, shocks, radiator and other work, the chief said.

The second truck is Rescue 18 housed at the main fire station on Route 7. It had received heavy use because it not only carries and pumps water but has hydraulic power for the “jaws of life,” used in vehicle extrications, and other large rescue tools. Rescue 18’s frame has rusted out, Masirovits said. It would cost more than $100,000 just to bring Rescue 18 up to usable shape, and neither truck is worth putting money into, he said.

Masirovits proposes buying a new ladder truck that also would be used as a rescue truck for about $1.4 million, and a “small baseline pumper” for an estimated $600,000 to $800,000. 

Once the trucks are paid off after three years, the chief would turn his attention to personnel, he said. For many years, the department relied on part-time staff to fill out shifts, working alongside full-time personnel. However, the part-time roster keeps shrinking and there are many shifts when only full-time staff is on duty, meaning two or three people are working a shift when there are supposed to be five.

Full-time staff is getting burned out from working extra shifts, and the pay is not keeping up with personal expenses some employees incur, particularly for personnel with family medical issues, Masirovits said. A full-time, tenured firefighter is making $52,172 this year, not counting overtime, according to the union contract.

“We’re not gonna be at three firefighters with no part-time program,” Masirovits said. “We’re gonna have to eventually eliminate the part-time program – it’s gonna do it by attrition – and we’re gonna have to look at additional staffing. Our call volume right now is so astronomical over last year because of a regular increase plus taking on Vienna at 30 to 40 calls a month.”

Vienna Fire Department has irregularly responded to its own calls because of a major financial shortfall that is being investigated by state authorities, and surrounding departments have been responding when they can.

Brookfield Fire Department is primarily funded by these levies: 1.5 mills approved in 1982; 0.45 mills approved in 1983; 0.85 mills approved in 1984; 1.6 mills approved in 1999; 2 mills approved in 2002; 1 mill approved in 2007; and 1.3 mills approved in 2013. The levies raise about $910,000 a year.

In Ohio, the effective rates of levies drop over time as property valuations rise so that the taxing entity receives no more money than what it received when a levy was first approved by voters. By replacing the levies, the rates would not change but the amount of money they raise would be reset according to today’s valuation.

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