Issue 47: Grafton Township fire/EMS replacement levy

GRAFTON TWP. — Grafton Township's volunteer fire department hopes voters will approve a replacement levy to fund additional staffing during its lowest volunteer availability. Issue 47 is a replacement of a 21-year-old levy, allowing the township to collect property taxes from new homes built in the past two decades. Replacement levies extend the term of an expiring levy while taking present-day property valuation into consideration. In the past 21 years, Grafton Township has seen additional homes built on what was once rural farmland, Fire Chief Bob Richards said, but just renewing the longstanding levy doesn't bring in additional funds from those increased property values for the department's operational budget. Its annual operating budget is about $150,000. The replacement levy would cover that, while allowing the department to staff its station with two crew members from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday — when some of its highest call volume takes place alongside its lowest volunteer availability. "And that's all we've done for years is just renewal, renewal, renewal. The reason we went with the replacement this year is because we're so short on people. … I can remember when we had 35 people on the roster. I'm down to 17. So during the day, we're hoping what this'll do is with that extra revenue or the revenue that we've lost over the years, that'll allow us to put two people on during the day." Those 17 firefighters and EMTs are only paid when they go on calls. Those two additional shifts would be split between firefighters/EMS staff to keep everyone at part-time hours while manning the station, Richards said. "We're just trying to be a little more self-reliant, cut down on response time because right now everybody coming from home it's a long response time. If they're there during the day, it cuts it down to six or seven minutes instead of 15," he said. Many of the department's volunteers work other jobs — including at some surrounding full-time fire departments — making during-the-day calls some of the hardest to staff. Difficulties in staffing result in longer response times, Richards said, as well as calling in mutual aid from surrounding departments. "Staffing is a problem nationwide. Police, fire, EMS, everywhere," he said. "It's just nobody is turning out to do it like they did in the past, and we're all feeling the pain." The owner of a $100,000 home currently pays $40.10 annually. The replacement levy would add an additional $29.90 per year — bringing the total to $70. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.