AUSTINTOWN — Voters in November will be asked to pass an additional 3-mill continuous levy to support fire and EMS services in the township.

Fire Chief Andy Frost said his department has faced increasing challenges since the COVID-19 pandemic, including rising equipment costs and the need to add emergency medical services personnel.

“This has been an ongoing thing since COVID started. We’ve had to expand a lot on the medical side of things,” Frost said. “Ambulance companies closing and a lack of people going into the medical field. We thought the ARP money would get us through until this was over, but we’re not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel like we thought we would.”

Frost added: “Services cannot continue as they are without us being financially stable.”

In July, trustees unanimously approved the levy request that they hope will generate an additional $2 million in annual funds to help the fire department overcome a roughly $1.5 million budget deficit. The levy would cost the owner of per $100,000 home $105 a year.

“We have gone more than a decade without asking for more money,” said Trustee Robert Santos, “which shows how effectively the department has used its money and gone after grants to support services.”

But in the wake of increasing property values and residents’ subsequent concerns about taxes going up, the levy might be ill-fated.

Mahoning County Auditor Robert Meacham was required by state law to release in September the findings of a mandatory revaluation of property, so residents could understand the impact on tentative tax values for the coming year. Meacham said he could not control the timing but conceded that it did not help with this election cycle’s levy requests.

Meacham said the county will see an average increase in value of 38 percent. Austintown saw one of the county’s highest proposed reappraisals at 42.8 percent. Final property tax amounts will be available in mid-January.

“I think it’ll have a huge impact, negatively,” said Frost. “Folks are strapped and we understand that. The problem is the misconception about what this revaluation means. What we need is more clarity.”

Frost said he’s still talking to tax experts, but understands that homeowners are not going to pay 40 percent more in taxes. He also said the tax valuation in no way changes how much money the levy can generate.

House Bill 920, approved in 1976, keeps inflation from significantly increasing the amount of property taxes a homeowner pays, regardless of whether property values increase or decrease.

If a home’s valuation increases in excess of the township’s average, they could expect to pay slightly more, and vice versa for those whose home values increase below that average. Those whose values see an increase roughly equal to the average would still just pay $105 per $100,000.

Meacham said he expects about one-third of homes in the county to see an increase in taxes, about one-third to stay the same, and one-third to drop.

If the levy does not pass, the department may have to make harsh decisions.

“We were running tight with the budget even before COVID, then the pandemic hit and we had to do some special things to keep running,” he said. “Now the pandemic is over and we still have those same challenges, increasing costs, and less money to work with.”

Austintown maintains two full-time fire stations and two part-time stations, 27 full-time employees and 23 part-timers. Township Administrator Mark D’Apolito said the township received $3.6 million in federal aid from the American Rescue Plan (ARP) during COVID-19, and about $2 million of that covered salaries for 2022. Those funds have been depleted and will not be replaced.

D’Apolito said the department’s operating costs in 2022 were just under $4.4 million, while the funds generated by four separate continuing levies totaling 4.7 mills amount to $2.9 million annually. Three of those levies, totaling 3.7 mills, are revaluations last approved by voters in 2012, and another dates back to 1980.

Frost said each medical call costs the department $700, while Medicare and Medicaid only reimburse $200 per call. That imbalance has driven many ambulance companies out of business in recent years and left the burden to local fire departments. The township used $515,000 of its ARP funds to purchase two ambulance units. A co-op ambulance unit with Lane LifeTrans is based at the Wickliffe station and another will be in service within six months. He said every fire engine now also carries a certified paramedic.

One alternative option Frost has said the district may explore is a proposed joint fire district between Boardman and Canfield. Officials in those townships have stated that such a merger may be more a matter of when than if, and have discussed inviting departments like Austintown to join.

Frost said it’s something he has discussed with township leaders in and outside of Austintown.

“We are always in talks about that. I really do believe in regionalization,” he said, “and Canfield and Austintown have very similar tax bases.”