VERNON TOWNSHIP — Officials in Vernon Township and the two towns within its borders are considering creating a fire territory to allow fire protection to keep up with the area’s growth.
The consideration comes after the township failed to secure special legislation to increase its maximum property tax levy during the Indiana General Assembly’s 2020 legislative session.
A fire territory would have its own property tax levy and tax rate for funding fire services. Before the territory could be created, the Vernon Township Board and the town councils of Fortville and McCordsville would have to approve it. All three bodies recently agreed on creating a proposed budget for a fire territory and enlisting a municipal advisory firm to determine the impacts to taxpayers and other taxing units.
Florence May, Vernon Township trustee, said during a Fortville Town Council meeting on April 13 and a McCordsville Town Council meeting on April 14 that the township’s current fire protection capabilities are only financially sustainable for the next two years, maybe less. She added that the township is deficit-spending in order to accomplish the status quo and that even with the township’s projected future growth, its tax rate is too low to keep up with what future fire protection needs will be.
Those future needs include hiring a fire marshal and developing a station able to be staffed 24/7 in McCordsville, May said. The town’s station doesn’t accommodate long stays for firefighters, who instead rush to it from elsewhere when calls come out. Vernon Township’s fire station in Fortville is staffed 24/7 with paid-part-time and paid-per-run firefighters.
The township also needs a plan for replacing apparatuses, some of which May said qualify for antique plates. Township leaders have talked as well about eventually having a fire department with a full-time staff, like its neighbors in Buck Creek and Sugar Creek townships.
Paige Sansone, a partner with Baker Tilly Municipal Advisors, told Fortville and McCordsville town council members this week that the first step toward a fire territory is developing an operating budget for its services. Baker Tilly will then perform a financial impact analysis, which will include a calculation of a tax rate and levy to fund the proposed budget. The analysis will also determine the territory’s impact on taxpayers and other taxing units, such as Mt. Vernon schools, the Fortville-Vernon Township Public Library, Hancock County and others.
Indiana code calls for three public hearings before officials can vote on a fire territory and at least 30 days between the first and third hearing, Sansone said.
The deadline to create a fire territory is normally the end of March, but one of Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb’s executive orders spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic extends that cutoff to June 30.
“This is something that we would have to move through pretty quickly in order to get this done by the end of June,” Sansone said.
After the third public hearing, the township board and both town councils would have to approve the fire territory in order for it to be created. If approved, a petition would go to the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance, which would approve the initial property tax levy for the territory. After the first year, that levy would grow per the same growth factor as other taxing units in the state, Sansone said.
“In becoming a fire territory, we are moving to a model where the towns are more engaged in how we grow and the operations of the fire department,” May said during the Fortville Town Council meeting.
The township and towns would have the option of creating an executive advisory committee for the fire territory as well.
“I think that’s a really smart move,” May continued. “It shouldn’t be me coming to tell you this is what needs to happen. Really, the towns need to be engaged on a regular basis in terms of what do you need as you’re planning your development and are we making sure that the fire infrastructure matches where we are going as the towns build.”
If a fire territory is created, Vernon Township would continue to remain its fire service provider, May said. Sansone called the territory a funding mechanism and that it wouldn’t change how the fire department’s structure works.
The township board and both town councils put their support behind creating a proposed fire territory budget and getting it to Baker Tilly for the impact analysis. The firm will perform the work for no more than $20,000, which the township and towns chose to split evenly.
Tonya Davis, a Fortville Town Council member, voiced her support for the township during the April 13 meting.
“They need help; we need to give it,” Davis said.
Greg Brewer, a McCordsville Town Council member, said considering a fire territory analysis is “in the best interest of the town of McCordsville” during the meeting the following day.
Sansone set a goal to have the analysis completed by May 1, setting the stage for the potential public hearings and decision to follow before the June 30 deadline.
