VIENNA — Township officials warned residents during a presentation that if a proposed levy doesn’t pass, the fire department will not run an ambulance service.

The presentation, put on by Trustee Mike Haddle and Fiscal Officer Jason Miner earlier this week, aimed to show how and where the township’s finances go. It also provided transparency over how money from their widely opposed speed cameras was distributed, but that wasn’t all that was discussed.

Also available at the presentation was a handout of the proposed 3.5-mill fire levy’s language, which residents will see when they go to the polls in May for the primary election.

Haddle explained there are two existing fire levies, each for 1 mill. If the new levy passes, they will not put the other two levies up for renewal and inform Trumbull County Auditor Martha Yoder to cease collection.

One resident noted the levy’s language didn’t mention the other two levies, which Haddle said was due to the state moving away from such language.

“They’re getting away from the language of ‘replacement levy.’ The state doesn’t like a replacement because it runs too close to renewal,” Haddle said. “Then people see that and they think it’s a trickster thing going on.”

“There was no legal way for us to put that anywhere on there; that was not optional,” Miner said.

Haddle said they have an educational committee formed, for which fire Chief Gus Birch said they intend to put out a flyer when it’s “ready to go.”

Miner told residents the township doesn’t have a role in the levy election process “at all.”

“The township is not legally allowed to advocate for or against a levy; we’re standing here giving an official presentation — we’re not allowed to just tell you to vote for it or not,” Miner said. “We’re allowed to provide you with the intention of the board. I believe it’s the intention of the board that we have one levy up for renewal this year and that one will just expire. The other one, we’ll stop collecting on.”

Birch said if the 3.5-mill levy doesn’t pass, the township will no longer run EMS services.

“If this levy does not pass, and please, don’t misunderstand me — this is not a threat or a scare tactic; if this levy does not pass, we will not run an ambulance anymore,” he said. “We will get rid of our ambulance because we do not have the people, the volunteers, to staff an ambulance.”

Haddle said the department is starting to run up against maintenance costs on vehicles and that one of their ambulances is “really old.”

“We got a little bit of fresh blood in, and they’re mechanically inclined or literally a certified mechanic. But we’re starting to run up on some service life issues on some vehicles,” Haddle said.

James Koehler, a resident, local business owner and former school board member, said the trust factor is a big issue for residents moving forward.

“From the standpoint of what you were speaking to, someone’s going to look at this and they’re going to say, ‘yeah, they say they’re going to get rid of the other two, but are they?’, Koehler said. “I think the people need some sort of guarantee because I’m right with you, I understand it’s important.”

Haddle said he understood where Koehler was coming from, and half of the people residents could lay blame on are gone.

“Fifty percent of the problem, landscape, has changed; the landscape moving forward has changed. Jason and I, we’re being more transparent on everything going forward,” he said. “We’re trying to better educate you — the public — on some of these issues we have going out there. Our levy is 19 years old and never should have gotten to that point. I think levies should be updated every 10 years.”