The amount and length of the levy, and what it would cost property owners, has not been determined yet.
Holman proposed placing an additional tax levy on the ballot in an April 3 letter that was posted to its Facebook page, and asked the community if they would vote yes for additional funding for fire and EMS.
Holman mentioned several people said they’d work on a committee to publicize the levy, and he will work to get that committee together.
“We have to do something because the prices of everything, our supplies, have doubled in price ... it’s ridiculous. Like I said in the letter, we’ve survived because of a lot of grants I’ve wrote ... so that’s helped us a bunch, but we can’t sustain this,” he said. “And we need raises ... I got 11 pieces of fire and EMS equipment, and that does no good if I can’t put people in them.”
The letter came after Holman read some of the comments related to the township’s pay raise, in which all employers were given a $2 an hour raise, and Holman a 2% raise, in January.
“I am very pro-employee and, if it were possible, that raise would have been much more. These people work in less-than-optimal conditions at scenes and rarely complain. They see things that human eyes should never see, but they do their job because they care. They care about each other, and they care about the people they serve,” Holman said in the letter.
The department was all-volunteer until 1999 when it transitioned to a paid department. The change was necessary because of the lack of volunteers available during the day, which caused unacceptable response time for emergencies, Holman said in the letter. The department now has 27 part-time and seven full-time employees, and two crews are on duty 24 hours a day.
“The longevity of our employees is very high; many individuals with 20 years of service or more. They are very dedicated and highly skilled people who love serving our community,” Holman said.
In 1975 when Holman started as a volunteer, he said the department responded to 175 emergency calls. In 2023, they responded to 2,044 calls, with the highest number of calls in a 24-hour period being 17.
Most calls (91%) are for EMS services, he said.
Last year, the department only needed to request mutual aid three times and provided mutual aid to other departments 151 times, which they are able to do because “of the strength of their scheduling.”
The department is funded by tax levies and soft billing, which means they only receive what the insurance will cover. Last year, billing averaged $350 per EMS transport, but they receive no money if they treat the patient at the scene and do not take them to the hospital.
The last time the township had an additional tax levy was in 2010.
Holman said the current tax levies for this year bring in $793,264, which can be used for both fire and EMS expenses, and the EMS billing for this year will amount to $225,000, which can be used only for EMS expenses.
He said: “You may be wondering how we can operate on such a small budget.”
Holman said he’s written grants for the township for over the past 14 years, some as little as $500 and some as much as $147,000, which has allowed them to purchase equipment that would normally come out of their budget.
The department recently had to replace an engine, with all bids that came in over $400,000. They saved $50,000 a year to replace the engine and had a total of $265,000 to work with, but they contacted one of their dealers they used before, and he worked with them and they got the engine for $270,000, Holman said.
They also downsized their three medic units to a smaller-sized module that costs less to maintain and gets better mileage.
“Over a period of 5 years, we are able to replace all three medic units for less than one of the large modular medic units,” Holman said.
“So, we have done a lot to save money, which allowed us to provide the $2 an hour raise. Unfortunately, it is becoming very difficult to sustain our operations at the present increased cost of supplies and equipment,” Holman said.
That is why Holman proposed the tax levy and shared the letter in hopes it helps the community understands the issue.
Nearly 50 people took to the post to comment their opinions about the letter and a potential levy, in which at least eight people said they would vote yes.
“Very proud of this department, and the tax levy should be put on the November ballot,” Christie Riley Phillips commented.
“This was an amazing department to work for! First responders do not do this for the money in the end but for the passion of the profession and the love for the community they work for,” Sydney Dennis said.
“I would vote for a levy. Your EMTs have responded to my parents’ home many times over the years. They were always professional and very caring and took great care of my parents,” Penny Littler commented.
Holman said: “From the feedback we got on Facebook, it sounds like we got a little bit of support, and those are the people that are on Facebook. I think we can get it passed.”
For more information, visit the German Twp. Fire & EMS Association Facebook page or Germantownshipoh.com.
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