Wabash Township's proposed 2023 firefighting budget includes 4% pay increase

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Wabash Township Fire Department plans to morph next year into a hybrid paid/volunteer agency with nine paid firefighters, a deputy chief and a fire chief, according to a plan adopted Tuesday to the township board.

Trustee Angel Valentín, the Democratic Party's nominee for trustee, and Fire Chief Ed Ward presented the fire department's tentative 2023 budget during Tuesday's meeting. The budget grew from $230,000 this year to a proposal to spend $1,215,159 in 2023.

To fund the expansion, Valentín requested — and received — an increase in the firefighting tax levy based on the population growth in the township. He just learned of the approved increase on June 28.

Reported last week: Wabash Township finds funds for its fire department

Last week, Republican trustee candidate Eric Hoppenjans congratulated Valentín for getting the population growth adjustment to the firefighting levy and believes the ranks of the department need to grow. However, he was inclined to grow at a slower pace than Valentín proposes.

Valentín's plan, if he's elected, is to hire three firefighters per shift so that when a truck rolls on a call, it has at least three firefighters — possibly a volunteer for the fourth — on the rig.

Ward noted that industry standards for a department making as many runs as Wabash Township should have at least four firefighters on a truck per run. Many departments have more than just three paid firefighters working a shift, Ward said.

During Tuesday's presentation, the 2023 fire budget includes a 4% pay increase for current firefighters, including Ward. It also includes progressive annual pay increases for longevity — meaning years they've worked for the department —beginning at firefighters' fifth year of employment and capping out after 20 years of employment.

For current firefighters, the longevity pay goes back to their original hire dates — not the rehire dates in January caused by the former trustee's termination of the department's entire paid firefighters.

The increase tax levy for fire protection takes the maximum levy from this year's $230,000 to next year's maximum levy of more than $1.88 million.

"We're aiming to stay significantly below that," Valentín said of the $1.88 million maximum levy. "We want to be able to grow as a department in the future if we continue to seeing a lot of population growth."

Valentín assured the board and the public that he planned to only use about 63.78% of the maximum levy.

"Over a third of the funding that is available to us, we don't want to touch because we want to be able to grow the department in the future," Valentín said.

Property tax rates for fire protection will increase from this year's 2.14 cents per $100 of net assessed value to 11.03 cents per $100 of net assessed value. That is at the top of the county's townships, but it is still below what taxpayers pay for professional fire protection at departments in Lafayette and West Lafayette, Valentín said.

The 2023 budget adoption process begins in September and October, during which there will be public hearings for taxpayers to voice their opinions.

Also during Tuesday's meeting:

● The board approved an $8,000 contract with neighboring Shelby Township to provide fire protection for a portion of that township. That money will be used in the firefighting funds, and it is anticipated that a similar contract will be approved for 2023.

● A 21-page employee handbook was approved. The handbook spells out specific expectations of employees and the township management.

● The board adopted a policy for the use of the township's credit and/or debit cards. If the township trustee uses a credit card instead of the current debit card, there is a $5,000 limit on the card. The new policy allows the trustee and the fire chief to have cards. The policy allows the fire chief or his/her designee to use the card.

The policy indicates that receipts of purchases must be maintained, that the card balance must be paid in full each month, and it cannot be paid with automatic withdraws.

"Transactions are accessible to the public and Township officials in accordance with the Public Record Laws enacted by the State of Indiana," the policy states.

Reach Ron Wilkins at rwilkins@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Township's proposed 2023 firefighting budget includes 4% pay increase