VERNON — Township residents are being asked to replace a 1.5-mill levy raising approximately $38,700 per year with a 2.5-mill levy expected to raise approximately $97,000 per year in order to pay for the increasing cost of Emergency Medical Services being supplied by Johnston township Fire Department.

“Our contract with Johnston Township EMS this year increased from approximately $55,000 per year to more than $77,500 annually this year and next,” Vernon Township Trustee Jeffrey McGee said. “Johnston’s cost to provide services has been increasing since COVID.”

“Owners of a $100,000 per year home in Vernon will experience a property tax increase of approximately $88 per year if this levy is successful,” McGee said.

Communities served by Johnston EMS include Kinsman, Gustavus, Greene and Vernon townships.

The total number of EMS calls Johnston Township EMS responded to in Vernon during each of the last three years has gone from 139 in 2022 to 167 in 2023 to 159 in 2024. From Jan. 1 through Oct. 24, the total number of EMS duty crews dispatched was 95.

Johnston Township basic level Emergency Medical Technicians earn $13.30 per hour, intermediate EMT’s earn $14.30 per hour and its paramedics earn $15.30 per hour. A proposed $2 per hour increase would push the basic EMTs to $15.50 per hour, intermediate to $16.50 per hour and paramedics to $17.50 per hour.

“The raise alone will require $51,740.74 in additional funding in 2025,” Todd Price, Johnston Township fire chief, said. “We need increases to stay competitive.”

However, Price noted that retention is the main reason they are seeking more funds.

“We cannot afford to lose valuable employees,” he added.

The difference in cost between the money being raised by the current 1.5-mill levy and the contract amount paid to Johnston for EMS comes from Vernon Township Fire Department’s general operational budget.

“Although the money expected to be collected from the 2.5-mill levy will be more than what is needed for the current contract, we are projecting costs to continue to increase over the next several years after this contract is completed,” McGee said.

Vernon fire Chief George Snyder said the increasing amount of money being taken from the department’s general operating budget takes away from its ability to provide basic services.

Price agreed the cost of everything from gasoline to equipment needed by firefighter and EMS employees has increased dramatically since the pandemic.

Price adds there now is a nationwide shortage of people trained to be paramedics and with EMS skills, so the cost to hire has increased.

“When people with these skills are looking for jobs, it is difficult for smaller departments to compete with departments that can pay more,” he said.

Snyder said when he started as a firefighter there were more than 50 people available to work at the volunteer department at any given time. Today, there are about a dozen.