Levy Information

Fire Department Levy

On the November 2025 ballot Jackson Township will be seeking to add a 4.9 mill continuous operating levy. This will help us to prepare our department for our township’s present and future.

Trucks

We have a lot of vehicles that have or are about to exceed their expected life span of 25 years.

Staffing

We have begun  staffing the station Monday through Friday from 8 to 4 PM

EMS

In 2020 we purchased and put into service the department’s first ALS capable ambulance

A few things we’re working on

The Levy that we are seeking is going to be used to enable us to continue expanding our services and capabilities for our township.

Overall Operations Truck Replacement Staffing

Overall Operations

The department is currently operating off of a 1.75 mill levy that was originally approved in 1983 and renewed to a continuous levy in 2009. This levy generates approximately $184,000 per year, slightly above the original $134,000 that it generated in 2009.

While our operating budget has grown some since 2009 it has not kept pace with the costs and the increases in the services required to help our community. Here is a brief overview of the cost differences from 2009 to today.


Levy Amount

Annual Call Volume

EMS Capability

Fire Training

Fire Gear

Fire Engine

2009

$134,000

110

No EMS Capabilities

$400

$1,500

$325,000

2024

$184,000

618

ALS Transport

$1,500

$4,750

$1,037,967

Beyond the replacement schedule and staffing expansion this levy is needed to help us keep up with the cost of the gear, training, trucks, and equipment needed to help keep our community safe.

Truck Replacement Schedule

You were all very supportive in 2019 when you approved our levy allowing us to purchase a new Engine. We were actually able to take those funds make adjustments and use them to purchase both our primary Engine and an Ambulance in order to support the needs of the township. The levy we used to purchase that truck expired in 2025 as we did not seek to renew it.

Our current second out engine for fires and our duty crew staffing is our 1999 Engine. The main truck that we have used to respond to crashes and other rescue incidents is a 1992. Our Tanker is a 2000. As these trucks continue to age the maintenance costs continue to rise. Making it cost more and more to be able to keep these trucks operational and on the road. 

The National Fire Protection Association, which provides the standards that fire departments nationwide attempt to maintain, recommends that all trucks be replaced after 25 years. As of today, 3 of our 5 large trucks exceed that recommendation. 

As such one of the main uses of the levy is going to be to establish a replacement plan for our trucks. This will put us in position to better prepare for the future and reduce our maintenance costs.

Staffing Expansion

Our Fire Department has been and continues to be staffed primarily by volunteers. The men and women of the department respond to Emergency Calls from home, first going to the station to get the appropriate apparatus and then to the scene of the call. We have sustained this model for as long as we could. Volunteerism is down nationwide in all aspects. Most of the volunteers we have are coming from out of town to serve our community. This has led not only to limited personnel availability but increasing response times to the scene of emergencies.

In response to the reduction in volunteers and increasing response times, we began staffing the fire station Monday through Friday from 8 AM to 4 PM. To date this staffing experiment has been a great success. We have been able to cover 96% of the available shifts. We have also reduced the response time during duty crew hours to 9 minutes and 36 seconds. Our current volunteer response time is 18 minutes and 17 seconds. These shifts have accounted for nearly a third of our total calls over the course of the first six months of 2025. 

Our plan is to continue to expand the hours that we have people on duty at the station. This will allow us to continue reducing response times and providing high quality services at all times. While we cannot promise 24 hours a day 7 days a week coverage immediately upon approval of the levy, we will be expanding the coverage hours.

Come speak with us!

We will be hosting two Townhall/Open House events. We will be on hand to answer any questions and explain what this levy is for.

Both held at the Jackson Township Fire Station at:

229 N. Salem-Warren Rd
North Jackson, 44451

Weds. Sept 24, 2025

7 PM

Weds Oct. 29, 2025

7 PM

Levy Costs

The cost of the levy is based on the value of the property in our township. Here is the estimated costs from the Auditors office:

$100,000

Most costs are done based on every $100,000 that your home is worth. So for a $100,000 home it will cost:

$ 172

/ year

$260,000

The median home value in Jackson is $260,000. So the average resident will likely pay about:

$ 446

/ year

Cost Offsets

With this levy coming up we did want to take some time to highlight some of the cost offsets that you may not know about to help make you decisions.

vehicle Levy

In 2019 we put on a 1.5 mill truck levy. This levy was a 5 year levy which was not renewed in 2024. As such after the 2025 tax year this levy will no longer be collected.

This is a savings of approximately $53 per $100,000 of home value or $137 for a $260,000 home.







Ambulance Service

We do what is called soft-billing for our residents. This means that if you call for an ambulance and you are a resident of Jackson Township if our ambulance handles the transport of your call we will bill your insurance company only. Any balance not covered by insurance is forgiven for residents.

The typical cost of an ambulance is around $1,200.




ISO Rating

The Insurance Services Organization (ISO) rates fire departments from 1 to 10 with a 1 being the best. In 2024 we had our re-evaluation and improved from a rating of 6 to 4. These ratings have a direct impact on insurance premiums.





Questions? Want a sign?