CHAMPION — Voters in the township are being asked to support a 2.65-mill, five-year additional levy on the May 5 primary ballot for providing and maintaining fire and emergency medical service protection in the community.

Township officials said the levy, if passed, will generate an estimated $692,145 annually per year for fire and emergency medical services. The owner of a $100,000 home would pay approximately $93 per year, officials said.

Trustees have said the township needs to provide fire protection to the residents while also having enough funds to operate. They have said staffing at the fire department is a major issue of concern since there are often not enough firefighters to cover all shifts. Passage of the levy will help provide the money to hire more firefighters.

Trustees have scheduled two informational public meetings about the levy at 6:30 p.m. April 22 and 1 p.m. April 25, both at the township administration building.

Trustee Doug Emerine said one reason the levy is needed is because when the township seeks grants, there is limited funds available to pay the local share or matching funds. The township had to turn down a federal SAFER grant last year because it did not have the matching funds.

Emerine said the fire department needs between $100,000 and $150,000 per month to operate at the status quo.

Fiscal Officer Laurie Jo Miller said the fire department has additional budgetary needs for equipment and facility updates that the budget cannot support. Dempsey said there is a need for new fire hoses and other rescue equipment, replacing aged turnout gear and boots, and computer upgrades at the stations estimated at $45,700.

There are also needs for updates to the department’s heating system and bay doors.

Dempsey has said the fire department’s costs, like all other fire departments, has gone up. He said ambulances cost nearly $1 million now, compared to more than five years ago at $455,000.

Dempsey said the department has three ambulances — one from 2014, another from 2017 and the third from 2023.

Emerine said the 2017 and 2023 ambulances were paid for by COVID-19 money and American Rescue Plan funds at no cost to the township. Miller said a new fire truck would cost $1 million, which could be paid by a loan that would be paid off at $200,000 per year.

Miller said a 2014 ambulance needs replaced and a new one could be paid over five years at $36,000 annually with new levy money.

Dempsey said the call volume for fire and EMS has increased, so replacing vehicles and equipment is necessary since they are used quite often.

STAFFING AT STATION

Dempsey says the levy is needed to ensure the safety of people who live in the township.

“Staffing is the number one priority,” he added.

The money would be put toward hiring three additional full-time firefighter/paramedics, with one added to each shift. Dempsey said the fire department has two full-time and two part-time firefighters per shift and would like to add three full-time firefighters to allow for three full-time and two part-time firefighters per shift. He said it would be ideal to have five firefighters per shift.

Miller said that cost would be $360,000, which would increase each year because of health insurance and pay increases. Dempsey said it is getting much harder to find part-time staff because 90% of them work full-time jobs at other fire departments.

“We are the busiest single-station fire department in the county,” Dempsey said.

He said the township has the station staffed all the time as much as possible while other nearby fire departments are only staffed 60% of the time.

Emerine said the township will need to see what funds are generated from the Joint Economic Development District with Warren for the Mercy Health emergency facility being constructed off Educational Highway in Champion. He said the township also will see what taxes come from the marijuana dispensary, which is expected to open in the spring.

Dempsey said despite the community growing and aging, there have been no added personnel since 1982.

He said in the early 1980s, the department had about 300 calls while in 2025 there were more than 2,700 calls with no increase in staffing.

Dempsey said if the levy fails, they would have to rely more on mutual aid from other communities for ambulance transports. He said Bazetta has been able to provide mutual aid assistance to Champion and vice versa, but other local fire departments are not able to because of limited staffing or no staffing on certain shifts.

Trustee Rick York noted at a recent meeting that Dempsey took a pay freeze to help provide funds for the fire department.

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