Parkman Twp. Fire seeking levy to staff department 24/7

Parkman Fire and Rescue is asking voters to approve a 5-mill continuous levy to enable it to transition into a 24/7 staffed department.

If approved on March 17, the levy would commence in tax year 2020 and cost property owners $175 per $100,000.00 of tax evaluation per year.

Parkman Township Fire Chief Mike Komandt said that if the levy passes he hopes to begin 24 hour shifts by June 1 of this year, after constructing a building to serve as a bunkhouse and office space.

“We’re currently only in the station for 15 hours a day and then overnight we rely on volunteers, which across the nation and especially in our region volunteers are very few and far between,” Komandt said.

With a current staff of 12 people, the chief said the department currently operates without staff for nine hours each day.

“(The levy) would give us the ability to, if needed, hire one full-time personnel per shift, which is a three-shift schedule. So we’d be able to add three full-time personnel,” he said.

If the levy does not pass, the department’s website said that it will have to reevaluate and may need to cut back to 12-hour shifts to remain within the current budget.

“Without it, we know we will not be able to start the 24-hour staff model and we will not be able to hire any full-time people — if the Board of Trustees would have approved that— now it would be completely off the table,” Komandt said.

He said with the levy’s passing, the department would not need to put another levy on the ballot for at least 15 years.

“The budget is built to be good for at least 15 years,” Komandt said. “Based upon 3-percent inflation, we’re not going to be coming back to the voters for 15 years at a minimum.”

Leading up to the March 17 election, the fire department has been hosting levyrelated question and answer sessions.

The next meeting is on Feb. 25 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Parkman Fire Department, 16299 Main Market Road.

“These sessions aren’t endorsed by the Board of Trustees or anything like that,” Komandt said.

“We just want anybody who has a question to feel free to come up and hear more information. We’ll sit down with the resident or taxpayer and tell them exactly what the (tax) increase would be based upon their properties.”