Fire departments that service unincorporated areas of the county are requesting funds from potential future income tax revenues that largely would pay for more personnel.
“Fire service, as a whole, outside the city limits is in dire need of personnel,” Ellettsville Fire Department Chief Mike Cornman told a committee of the Monroe County Income Tax Council on Monday night, speaking on behalf of Richland Township, which his department serves. That’s true in Bean Blossom Township, where the fire department is 100 percent run by volunteers.
“They do the very best they can, but there’s no one at the station during the day,” Bean Blossom Township Trustee Pam Cook said, adding that means the burden falls on neighboring townships.
Cook said she’s been looking for funding for part-time positions to staff the department during daytime hours since she took office in 2013, and hasn’t yet been successful in getting funds.
With the township at its maximum tax levy, revenues from a new public safety option income tax seem to be the only solution, she said.