Rome Township Fire Levy
This is NOT a NEW tax, meaning you’ll see no additional increases in your property taxes.
Let’s face it, the cost of EVERYTHING has increased...but we’ve continually fought to implement cost-cutting procedures and practices to ensure we can provide the same level of service for the same tax rate you’ve been paying for well over 20 years.
We’re a Non-Billing Service
With support from this levy, we’re able to provide FREE fire protection and EMS assistance to our residents...meaning whether you need us once or 1000 times, you’ll never get a bill or be invoiced for our services.*
Fleet Replacement & Repair
The levy helps us regularly replace and maintain vehicles in our fleet to ensure we can provide a safe and dependable response to a wide variety of emergencies in our community. In the last two years we’ve upgraded/replaced several vehicles to provide a more efficient response to the citizens of Rome Township.
Personal Protective Equipment
The levy provides safe personal protective equipment for our all-volunteer staff including helmets, jackets, pants, boots, gloves, breathing apparatus, etc. The average cost to equip each firefighter is approximately $14,000.00.
Fire Prevention & Smoke Alarm Program
The levy ensures we can continue one of our most important missions...public education & awareness. Each year we provide demonstrations, training, and safety education materials to well over 700 students in our local schools, daycare centers, and special public events. We participate in several senior citizen focused events to discuss fire risks and fall prevention safety. Additionally our department provides/installs an average of 200 smoke alarms FREE of charge annually to our residents.
Training & Continuing Education
The levy allows us to train new volunteers for service as well as provide required continuing education and specialty training for our current staff. Our average member volunteers 150+ hours annually to attend various training schools and fire academies to sharpen their skills and help us provide a top-notch level of service.
Township Cleanup Days
A large portion of costs (dumpsters, tire disposal, etc) are directly funded by the fire levy. This year the fire department and township trustees disposed of 1200+ tires and collected 200+ tons of solid waste.
Insurance Rates & Fire Hydrants
Our department is regularly evaluated and scored by insurance companies to determine what property owners pay for coverage. Training, public education, equipment, and water supply capabilities are all factors taken into consideration during the evaluation. The fire levy helps us keep these scores above average, provide additional fire hydrants to the community, and inevitably keeps insurance rates affordable for everyone.
*Occasionally we bill/invoice insurance companies for reimbursement costs associated with response, especially when we’ve used excess materials/fuel to mitigate an incident. (Ex: Hazardous material incidents require lots of time, fuel, and numerous consumable cleanup items that we need to replace.) NO bills or invoices become the responsibility of our citizens individually.
Vote YES to RENEW the Rome Township Fire Levy!