In presenting the proposed 2025 budgets to the Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory Board Tuesday, Chief Joel Shilling began by reporting the territory’s request for a levy increase was approved.
“We can go to an increase of $1.2 million, and that levy increase is also only for the operating fund,” he said.
The levy increase becomes effective in 2025, according to a letter Shilling provided to the board.
In March, the Warsaw Common Council approved a resolution seeking the increase to the territory’s operating fund tax rate. The petition to increase the maximum property tax levy for the fund was due to the state by March 31 and had to be approved by the Department of Local Government Finance. Former Fire Chief Brian Mayo initiated the levy increase request.
At Tuesday’s board meeting, Shilling broke down what they planned to use the levy for.
“Through talks with the mayor’s office and council, and former Chief Mayo, even if we were approved for the $1.2 million, we only planned to spend $600,000 of that and collect half of that,” he said. “Through some budgeting and items that I felt, and former Chief Mayo felt, we needed - the total use of the levy that we’re going to use is $523,000. So we will not use all of that entire levy.”
Physicals for the department’s firefighters will be $100,000 of the levy increase.
Training was $30,000 but increased by $70,000 for a total of $100,000.
The CARES (Community Assistance Resources & Emergency Services) grant that the fire territory currently has through the FSSA (Family and Social Services Administration) and RCORP (Rural Communities Opioid Response Program) expires in July, so the fire territory is going to start paying their salaries and wages. The levy will pay for $80,000 of that as well.
Two additional firefighters at a total of $220,000 for their salaries, wages and benefits was planned for the levy increase. The levy increase funds can’t be used for their gear because that comes out of the equipment replacement fund, Shilling said.
“As our equipment is ... being ran more and more, the cost for repairs and maintenance continues to go up on our apparatus, and then our buildings as well. So we have some issues with station 13, which is the Center Street station, so we’re going to use $53,000 of the levy for that as well,” he stated.
His letter to the board also states new mattresses for the station beds are also a necessity. Half of the mattresses will be purchased in 2025, and the remaining mattresses will be purchased in 2026.
Starting at the proposed 2025 operating fund, salaries and wages will be $6,008,197, an increase of 13.46%. Shilling said that’s in part to the proposed 2.5% salary increase for city employees, as well as an increase in longevity for the fire department from 20 to 25 years. The budget also includes the addition of the two firefighters.
The fire department also pays for a third of the clerk’s office, human resources and city engineer for a total of $188,420.
The line item for professional services is proposed to increase 344.44% from $28,800 to $128,000. Shilling said that’s because that’s where the $100,000 for firefighter physicals will come out of next year.
After going through the operating fund line by line, the proposed total for 2025 is $6,755,832, a 16.9% increase over the 2024 budget of $5,779,363. He said the majority of that increase being the levy.
Mayor Jeff Grose said if you took the levy increase out, “You’re looking at maybe a 10% increase in their budget, and I think that’s a positive thing. Chief, again, has really tried to respect every tax dollar, but also realizing what all (the department) realizes to do. I really think this is a very good budget.”
The next budget Shilling presented was the equipment replacement fund. It is proposed to decrease 18.38% from $1,861,268 in 2024 to $1,519,250 in 2025.
Under capital outlays in that budget, he pointed out that “we are going to continue with upgrading our portable radios that we use. The ones we have now are currently out of service, and part of the replacement plan was purchasing 10 of those every year, and I’d also like to upgrade the drone that we use as well and get compatible with the police department so we could swap out parts and work together with the other departments in the city to help everyone.”
He also stated the dive truck was due to be replaced in 2021, but it’s not been replaced and now is the time to do so.
“We have enough divers that that truck really doesn’t suit us anymore and it’s definitely time to upgrade that, so we plan on purchasing a new dive truck in 2025,” Shilling said. A total of $700,000 is proposed for 2025 for the new dive truck.
The hazardous materials response fund is proposed at $6,500 for 2025, a 441.67% increase over 2024’s $1,200 budget.
The $5,300 increase in the budget is for one Mini-Rae meter.
Shilling said the meters go with the current system they have “that if we do have a hazmat call, we can meter and get a little more specific to certain chemicals with this meter than we can with our other metering equipment.”
The fourth and final budget he presented was on the fire pension fund. The proposed 2025 budget for the fund is $262,514, a decrease of 4.58% over the 2024 budget of $275,117.
Shilling said the fire pension fund “for before we were in the current 77 fund through the state that we are in. So this was back when the city still managed their own pension fund as well.”
He said the decrease was due to the death of some of the retired firefighters’ widows. There are a few fire department members that are paid out of the fire pension fund, he said, but the majority of the fund is paid out to the widows of the department’s retirees.
The WWFT Board unanimously approved the budgets as presented.
The Warsaw Common Council will review the fire department’s budget at its 6 p.m. Aug. 19 meeting.