SYLVANIA TOWNSHIP, Ohio —
Sylvania Township voters will see a 2.5 mill levy on the November ballot for the fire department.
The request is coming after the township conducted a need assessment, which showed the necessity for money to support continuing operations, according to township administrator Oliver Turner.
Turner said increased calls and transports were a factor.
"Over 2018 to 2023, for example, we've seen over a 25% increase in incidents," he said. "Roughly a 57% increase in transports."
Fire Chief Chris Nye said in the 35 years he has been with the department, he has noticed an increase in calls.
"When I started we had 1,500 calls a year, and now we're up 8,000 calls a year," Nye said.
The growing population in the area is leading to increased calls, according to Turner.
Nye said the levy would help the department have the right amount of staff to keep up with the increase in calls.
"Right now our staffing's been pretty stagnant for the last couple of years," Nye said. "We did put on some additional staff with the last levy in 2020 and ideally we need to add some additional staff with this current levy ask."
The 2020 levy request was for $1.9 million. Nye said as more members of the department are getting close to retirement age, it's important to start thinking about filling staffing.
"We have approximately one-third of the department that can retire next year," Nye said. "There's probably in the neighborhood of 20-25 people that will be eligible to retire next year."
The limited amount of people who are able to respond to calls is another concern for the department.
"Our team here has a huge concern, there's a good period of days where we have no resources available to send to the next emergency because of our overlapping calls," Nye said.
Turner said the levy would last the township for a minimum of six years and would cost the owner of a $100,000 home $88 per year.
If voters have concerns, Turner said they can contact him to discuss how the money will be spent and the needs the department is currently experiencing.