VERNON TOWNSHIP — Fire and emergency medical services in Vernon Township won’t get the funding boost officials say they need after all.
Language in an Indiana House bill that would have allowed the township to increase its maximum property tax levy for those services was removed before the state Senate passed it last week. The township’s leader called the decision irresponsible and said leaders will explore other ways to ensure the area gets the fire and emergency medical services it needs.
The language was formerly part of House Bill 1113, a 116-page document addressing a multitude of issues the Senate passed on March 11, the last day of the legislative session.
Florence May, Vernon Township trustee, said the decision to remove Vernon Township’s matter from the bill left her confused and frustrated.
“I think that the present situation is irresponsible,” May said.
Leaders had spent several months working on the legislation that would have allowed Vernon Township to increase its maximum property tax levy for fire and emergency medical services to about $1.85 million, an increase of about $1.33 million.
That would have made its levy comparable to that of nearby Buck Creek and Sugar Creek townships. Vernon Township is like those townships in terms of population, but unlike them in that it does not have a full-time fire department.
Indiana Rep. Daniel Leonard, R-Huntington, author of House Bill 1113, briefly addressed why exclusions were made to the bill at the start of a conference committee meeting on March 9.
“If there was controversy in your issue, it’s probably not in here, simply because we’d like to get this done,” he said as the end of the session loomed.
But if there was controversy over Vernon Township’s issue, it likely didn’t come from Hancock County, May said.
“I think it’s really tragic when we had so much community support,” she said.
Allowing Vernon Township to get more tax funds would have resulted in other Hancock County taxing units getting less. Mt. Vernon Community School Corporation and Hancock County government would have seen decreases totaling more than $680,000. Yet, leaders of both bodies — and several others who stood lose revenue — supported the proposed legislation.
“Everyone stepped up and said, ‘We need to have responsible fire protection for a very quickly growing community,’” May said. “The Senate decided they didn’t want to support the community’s wishes.”
Leonard did not return a request for comment.
House Bill 1065, which the legislature passed on the last day of the session, would allow a township fire protection and emergency services area that experiences more than a 6% rise in population during a 10-year period to increase its maximum property tax levy by an amount based on the population growth that exceeds 6%.
May said while that would be helpful for Vernon Township, it “nowhere near fixes” the township’s funding issue.
She said she’s not yet sure if she will try again to seek a solution through the state legislature next year.
“We’re going to look at a whole series of options,” May said. “I am concerned because I really understand that from the state perspective, what they really want to see is fire territories, and I think there’s a substantial dislike for township government. Those things make this challenging.”
Exploring a fire territory is no easy task, May continued.
“It’s going to take extensive study to figure out how many municipalities have to come together, have to combine levies,” said May, who’s led the township since January 2019. “It’s not something you can do overnight. We have an emergency situation right now. Not three years from now, not five years from now; right now.”
May added in an email to the Daily Reporter that she’s open to the fire territory option, but the state needs to demonstrate it as a successful model. She said Indiana Sen. Eric Bassler, R-Washington, removed Vernon Township from House Bill 1113 and pushed fire territories as a solution.
Bassler did not return a request for comment.
Vernon Township will be able to continue providing 24/7 on-station fire and emergency medical services with its force of paid-part-time and paid-per-run personnel for the remainder of the year, May said, adding the township is starving other funds to do so. She said officials will discuss how to continue providing the service the community needs in the future at the township’s next fire task force meeting, which is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday, March 26 at the township trustee’s office, 700 W. Broadway, Fortville.
“We do have some measures we can take, but they will require partnerships with other organizations, and we will be reaching out to the towns of McCordsville and Fortville and looking at some hard options,” May said.
