WEBVTT 00:00:01.858 --> 00:00:09.160 - It's a joint meeting of the Ellsville Town Council and the Richland Township Advisory Board. I will 00:00:09.160 --> 00:00:16.535 - certify that there is a quorum for both committees present. And starting with Dan, we will introduce 00:00:16.535 --> 00:00:23.982 - ourselves. Dan. Dan Swofford, town of Ellsville. Trevor Sager, town of Ellsville. William Ellis, town 00:00:23.982 --> 00:00:30.846 - of Ellsville. Scott Oldham, town of Ellsville. Don Donnell, trustees board. David Willoughby. 00:00:31.298 --> 00:00:38.487 - Township Trustee Board. Jay Thrasher Township Trustee Board. We're here this evening on the second of 00:00:38.487 --> 00:00:45.888 - four required hearings to establish a fire protection territory between Eltsville and Richland Township. 00:00:45.888 --> 00:00:50.046 - Chief, I'll turn this over to you and we'll go from there. 00:01:04.322 --> 00:01:12.019 - Good evening. I'm Kevin Patton fire chief with the Ellisville Fire Department We've got just a few slides 00:01:12.019 --> 00:01:19.426 - we can go through a kind of give you a little history of the fire department and where we're at today 00:01:19.426 --> 00:01:26.687 - We've got a total of 17 full-time firefighters that includes the administration staff and then were 00:01:26.687 --> 00:01:31.262 - Supplemented by a few volunteers volunteers. I'm just not very 00:01:32.002 --> 00:01:40.017 - anymore we don't get a lot and then a lot of part-time that fill in when there's somebody off sick vacation 00:01:40.017 --> 00:01:47.587 - so on we have two stations one here on the highway in Ellsville the other ones on Curry Pike crossing 00:01:47.587 --> 00:01:55.453 - the old wetter off you remember where that is it's been there since 1971 and was paid for by the Westside 00:01:55.453 --> 00:02:00.574 - industries completely there was no tax money that went into that and 00:02:03.650 --> 00:02:32.030 - Basically the territory we're looking at forming is the town of Elksville and Richland Township 00:02:33.090 --> 00:02:41.421 - The only part of Richland Township that's not included in that is the portion that was annexed by the 00:02:41.421 --> 00:02:50.243 - city of Bloomington. There's a small corner down the southeast corner of the township. Some of the services 00:02:50.243 --> 00:02:57.022 - we provide obviously is fire, SQEMS. About 70% of our calls are medical in nature. 00:02:57.666 --> 00:03:06.886 - We have a community risk reduction program that's really taken off. It covers a lot of fire extinguisher 00:03:06.886 --> 00:03:15.667 - training, CPR programs, things of that nature. And on the top right, those are the calls, 911 calls 00:03:15.667 --> 00:03:25.150 - that we get for the last five years. And in the last five years, we've had 102% increase to the run volume. 00:03:25.698 --> 00:03:33.519 - growth, people driving through the area, things of that nature. Listing every fire station that's in 00:03:33.519 --> 00:03:41.494 - Monroe County, including the city of Bloomington, we're actually the second and third busiest stations 00:03:41.494 --> 00:03:49.392 - in the county. Generally, on a structure fire, you know, a house fire, commercial building, things of 00:03:49.392 --> 00:03:54.270 - that nature, we want a minimum of 15 to 20 people on site just 00:03:54.786 --> 00:04:03.204 - There's a lot of a lot of items that are taking place and it helps with the safety as well as provides 00:04:03.204 --> 00:04:12.030 - us better opportunity to do rescue. Where does our current funding source come from? The town of Ellisville 00:04:12.030 --> 00:04:20.448 - in Richland Township. Like I said, we have a contract with Richland Township. It's been in place since 00:04:20.448 --> 00:04:23.390 - 1947. The 26th annual budget that's 00:04:23.490 --> 00:04:33.272 - what we're currently operating on the 2789. That's just taking the standard 4% increase the state gives 00:04:33.272 --> 00:04:43.055 - that's what the numbers look like. Just real quick just so you guys have an idea of what it cost outfit 00:04:43.055 --> 00:04:51.614 - a fireman. You know pair of gloves $100.00 portable radio little over $6,000. Fire engine. 00:04:52.130 --> 00:05:00.018 - 1.2 million. We just ordered one of those and it should be in this fall. Richland townships paying for 00:05:00.018 --> 00:05:07.830 - that through the contract. An aerial fire truck, $2.3 million. The Westside Tiffs are paying for that 00:05:07.830 --> 00:05:15.718 - completely. Generally our fire trucks, we try to the fire trucks, the pumpers, aerials, things of that 00:05:15.718 --> 00:05:20.926 - nature, the large vehicles we try to replace on a 20 year rotation. 00:05:21.250 --> 00:05:28.815 - Some of them get a little more use, so we'll replace them a little sooner than that. The fire station 00:05:28.815 --> 00:05:36.306 - on current pipe, like I said, it's 50 years old. When it was put in place, we were running 150 calls 00:05:36.306 --> 00:05:43.723 - a year, and there was one firefight I wanted to do. Currently, there's three over there, so it gets 00:05:43.723 --> 00:05:50.398 - kind of synthetic. Challenges with the current system, just call vying is the main thing. 00:05:51.490 --> 00:06:01.444 - decrease in volunteerism and good little note down in the bottom you'll see we're protecting over $1.8 00:06:01.444 --> 00:06:11.397 - million of assessed value between the two. This would help obviously if territory is formed that helps 00:06:11.397 --> 00:06:19.998 - both entities would have a seat at the board. It structures the tax rate and everything. 00:06:20.450 --> 00:06:32.243 - together and just makes a lot smoother for not only the fire department but for both municipalities. 00:06:32.243 --> 00:06:43.919 - And that's all I've got on that. If you don't have any questions, questions, you can move on. Which 00:06:43.919 --> 00:06:47.422 - one is the page? The top one? 00:06:50.946 --> 00:07:02.890 - You can try it. It might just be me. Receivers. And if you need me to. Page Sansone with paper Tilly. 00:07:02.890 --> 00:07:15.302 - So I'm going to present a brief financial overview or a brief overview. I'm sorry of the financial impact 00:07:15.302 --> 00:07:19.166 - of this proposed fire territory. 00:07:19.746 --> 00:07:26.430 - So a fire territory is something that is statutorily allowed, so two taxing units can... 00:07:26.562 --> 00:07:33.485 - taxing units that touch boundaries can come together to form a fire territory. So that could be townships, 00:07:33.485 --> 00:07:40.084 - municipalities, or fire districts. Generally, the reason why a fire territory would be established is 00:07:40.084 --> 00:07:46.619 - to create a sustainable and dedicated revenue source to fund fire services. Also, it does spread the 00:07:46.619 --> 00:07:52.830 - cost of fire services over the entire tax base so that everyone pays equally for fire services. 00:07:52.930 --> 00:08:00.554 - By generating additional revenue, it could improve operational efficiency and response times and enhance 00:08:00.554 --> 00:08:07.742 - firefighter safety and resources. It is also helpful to meet the growing demands of the community. 00:08:08.642 --> 00:08:15.440 - So as was mentioned before, there are four meetings that are required. Three of those four meetings 00:08:15.440 --> 00:08:22.306 - are official public hearings. This is the second of three public hearings. The next one will be held 00:08:22.306 --> 00:08:29.512 - on March 11th. On March 25th, it will be a public meeting. However, it will primarily be for the adoption 00:08:29.512 --> 00:08:34.814 - in both legislative bodies. The Township Board and the Town Council will each 00:08:35.362 --> 00:08:42.717 - vote as to whether they're going to approve or deny the fire territory. If it is approved, we will send 00:08:42.717 --> 00:08:50.143 - a packet of information to the Department of Local Government Finance asking permission to levy property 00:08:50.143 --> 00:08:58.206 - taxes in the first year, which is 2027. So as was mentioned, this would be Ellitsville Town and Richland Township 00:08:58.466 --> 00:09:06.561 - One of those two units has to be designated the provider unit. So in this case, that will be the town 00:09:06.561 --> 00:09:14.577 - of Ellisville, and that just simply means that entity will levy property taxes, collect the revenue, 00:09:14.577 --> 00:09:22.752 - and pay all of the bills. We are assuming that the property taxes will begin in 2027 should this pass. 00:09:22.752 --> 00:09:27.038 - So just to kind of illustrate where we are right now, 00:09:27.202 --> 00:09:34.550 - Each entity does collect revenue specifically for fire purposes. Ellisville generates about 1.56 million. 00:09:34.550 --> 00:09:41.760 - Most of that's coming out of the general fund, but there's also some public safety revenue and economic 00:09:41.760 --> 00:09:48.831 - development revenue that goes towards fire. Richland Township generates about $1 million, and most of 00:09:48.831 --> 00:09:55.070 - that is through revenue, I'm sorry, through property tax, but then also local income tax. 00:09:56.418 --> 00:10:04.396 - The tax rates currently, Richland Township levies 14 cents for fire services, while Ellisville, 00:10:04.396 --> 00:10:13.123 - the town, levies .1862, so almost 19 cents. The proposed budget, we have it itemized on two pages. We'll 00:10:13.123 --> 00:10:17.694 - go to the second page. The budget is divided into two. 00:10:17.922 --> 00:10:24.631 - kind of categories. One is operating that would take care of the day-to-day operating costs. So the 00:10:24.631 --> 00:10:31.541 - estimated budget for 2027 is 3.8 million for operating. And then the fire territory is allowed to have 00:10:31.541 --> 00:10:38.316 - an equipment replacement fund, which is set at a maximum rate of 3.33 cents. So that should generate 00:10:38.316 --> 00:10:44.958 - about 506,000 a year that can be accumulated or spent on fire equipment and apparatus and housing. 00:10:45.954 --> 00:10:53.789 - So both of those budgets combined is 4.3 million. So how do we fund that? We're gonna fund that with 00:10:53.789 --> 00:11:01.701 - property tax primarily, about 4.1 million in property tax if you add that equipment replacement fund. 00:11:01.701 --> 00:11:09.614 - And then we also have some access to some vehicle excise tax. So that's about 207,000. So all in all, 00:11:09.614 --> 00:11:13.182 - there's 4.2 million and as I said previously, 00:11:13.858 --> 00:11:20.100 - There's a budget of about 4.3, but we do know that there can be some tax credits that will be issued 00:11:20.100 --> 00:11:26.343 - to taxpayers because of this fire territory. So the fire department will just need to take that into 00:11:26.343 --> 00:11:32.647 - consideration. If we do end up getting about 200,000 in tax credits, which will be a reduction of the 00:11:32.647 --> 00:11:38.889 - property tax dollars, they will have to adjust their budget accordingly. So at least right now we're 00:11:38.889 --> 00:11:41.918 - thinking that the funding that will be available 00:11:42.018 --> 00:11:50.312 - is about $4,167,000. So if we divide that by each $100 of the tax base, we get a tax rate of 0.2744 00:11:50.312 --> 00:11:58.606 - in the first year. In the future years, that property tax levy is going to grow by a statewide levy 00:11:58.606 --> 00:12:03.582 - growth factor. We're just currently estimating it to be 4%. 00:12:05.890 --> 00:12:13.286 - I need to let you know that there is some debt outstanding right now on an aerial ladder truck. The 00:12:13.286 --> 00:12:20.978 - remaining balance is approximately 1.8 million. The township has no outstanding debt and this debt will 00:12:20.978 --> 00:12:28.373 - not be carried over to the fire territory. It will be taken care of by the town until it matures on 00:12:28.373 --> 00:12:30.814 - August 1st, 2029. As far as the, 00:12:31.042 --> 00:12:37.672 - Property tax liability impact we have to look at how does it impact the district rate? So we have three 00:12:37.672 --> 00:12:44.175 - different taxing districts that are impacted here We have Richland Township and the district tax rate 00:12:44.175 --> 00:12:50.741 - is 1.64 Then we have the town of Ellisville two different taxing districts for Ellisville The tax rate 00:12:50.741 --> 00:12:56.606 - though is pretty close. It's two dollars and nine cents roughly They vary just a little bit 00:12:56.738 --> 00:13:03.925 - But since Richland Township's district rate is lower, the impact would be a little bit higher 00:13:03.925 --> 00:13:12.029 - than Ellitsville. So we're looking at an impact of 7.9% for Richland Township and 4.2% for the two taxing 00:13:12.029 --> 00:13:19.752 - districts in Ellitsville. So how does that impact an average residential home value? Although I have 00:13:19.752 --> 00:13:26.174 - three home values on this page, I'm just gonna cover the average, which is 293,500. 00:13:26.370 --> 00:13:34.632 - So if that home is located in Richland Township, the impact is $16 a month or about $193 for the year. 00:13:34.632 --> 00:13:43.055 - If that home is sitting in Ellitsville, there is no impact because that particular home value is hitting 00:13:43.055 --> 00:13:51.077 - the tax caps. So that home value can't pay any more than what it's paying now. And because Richland 00:13:51.077 --> 00:13:54.366 - Township's tax rate is so low right now, 00:13:55.010 --> 00:14:03.272 - It would take a $1.1 million home value for that to hit the tax caps. In Ellisville, it's only $228,000. 00:14:03.272 --> 00:14:11.220 - That's why the average home value is at the tax caps, because it's above that $228,000. We have some 00:14:11.220 --> 00:14:19.088 - examples of some other properties. We'll just look at a $300,000 residential rental property, which 00:14:19.088 --> 00:14:20.190 - is in the 2%. 00:14:20.514 --> 00:14:29.130 - tax cap classification so in Richland Township none of those properties are at the tax cap so that $300,000 00:14:29.130 --> 00:14:37.506 - residential rental property would see a $32 a month increase or about $390 for the year but in Alexville 00:14:37.506 --> 00:14:44.446 - that property is at the tax cap so there will not be an increase for those properties. 00:14:46.274 --> 00:14:52.816 - The last thing I need to tell you about is the impact to overlapping taxing units. It's required that 00:14:52.816 --> 00:14:58.717 - I cover that information. So what we're talking about, number one, is the property tax cap. 00:14:58.717 --> 00:15:05.323 - So as I mentioned, we do have three different property tax cap classifications here in Indiana. So for 00:15:05.323 --> 00:15:11.801 - residential homesteads, you should not pay more than 1% of your gross assessed value. So the example 00:15:11.801 --> 00:15:14.238 - is if you have a $100,000 home value, 00:15:14.498 --> 00:15:21.235 - You're capped out at $1,000. However, there are some taxing districts that have a referendum tax rate 00:15:21.235 --> 00:15:28.169 - where the voters approve like a school or a library to issue debt to cover a project. And if you approve 00:15:28.169 --> 00:15:34.840 - that through referendum, you have to pay that in addition to the tax cap. Other residential, rental, 00:15:34.840 --> 00:15:41.577 - agricultural land that sits on the 2% tax cap class. So it's capped at 2% of the gross assessed value 00:15:41.577 --> 00:15:43.294 - and then everything else. 00:15:43.746 --> 00:15:51.021 - which is primarily commercial and industrial is capped at 3%. So I do have copies up here if anybody's 00:15:51.021 --> 00:15:58.225 - interested, but these are how the tax credits are anticipated to be impacted with all the overlapping 00:15:58.225 --> 00:16:05.924 - taxing units. Primarily what we see here is that the fire territory is gonna be impacted. The fire territory 00:16:05.924 --> 00:16:11.998 - doesn't exist now, so if it is created, yes, they will have a circuit breaker impact. 00:16:12.098 --> 00:16:20.375 - Very minor impacts on the other units within the county Local income tax is also going to be impacted 00:16:20.375 --> 00:16:27.678 - because it is distributed to taxing units based on how much they levy and property tax so 00:16:28.130 --> 00:16:35.855 - will levy more property tax with this fire territory. So we do need to figure out how this is going 00:16:35.855 --> 00:16:43.656 - to impact the distribution of local income tax, but it's distributed a year in arrears basically. So 00:16:43.656 --> 00:16:51.535 - it looks at the previous year's levy. So the first year the local income tax would be impacted by the 00:16:51.535 --> 00:16:57.406 - fire territory is 2028 because the levy doesn't come on until 2027. So this 00:16:57.826 --> 00:17:04.759 - chart shows what the impact will be. No change in 2027. But then in 2028, Richland Township and Ellisville 00:17:04.759 --> 00:17:11.691 - should see an increase in their local income tax because even though Richland Township is not the provider 00:17:11.691 --> 00:17:18.430 - unit and they're not levying any tax for fire territory, the statute permits you to get a share of that 00:17:18.430 --> 00:17:21.086 - as far as this distribution calculation. 00:17:21.634 --> 00:17:28.517 - Richland Township should see an increase of about 275,000 in local income tax, and then Ellisville should 00:17:28.517 --> 00:17:35.075 - see an increase of 291,000, but it does take away from the shares from the other entities within the 00:17:35.075 --> 00:17:41.698 - county. So it's just a reallocation of local income tax. And that's the certified shares local income 00:17:41.698 --> 00:17:48.126 - tax. Public safety local income tax is only distributed to the county unit and the municipalities. 00:17:48.866 --> 00:17:55.720 - Ellitsville should see an increase in their share of 288,000, but it will come from Monroe, County, 00:17:55.720 --> 00:18:02.779 - Unit, Bloomington, and a little bit from Steinsville. Again, just a reallocation. And then Edit is not 00:18:02.779 --> 00:18:09.838 - impacted at all, because in this county, there's only a few counties in the state, but in this county, 00:18:09.838 --> 00:18:15.390 - Edit is distributed based on population. So no impact due to the fire territory. 00:18:16.578 --> 00:18:24.050 - And then the final revenue that could be impacted is the vehicle excise tax, because that is also distributed 00:18:24.050 --> 00:18:31.046 - based on how much each unit levies, and there's not a year lag time. So this would be the tax that you 00:18:31.046 --> 00:18:34.238 - pay when you register your vehicle at the BMV. 00:18:34.370 --> 00:18:41.893 - And again, it's distributed based on how much you levy So if you're levying more like Ellisville would 00:18:41.893 --> 00:18:49.198 - be in this case then Ellisville should see an increase and in that tax and also some additional tax 00:18:49.198 --> 00:18:56.502 - would go to the fire territory, but as you can see it comes from a share of everyone else's It just 00:18:56.502 --> 00:19:03.806 - again as a redistribution of revenue And that concludes my presentation Thank you so much questions 00:19:06.786 --> 00:19:15.302 - Any other comments from you, chief? Move now to public questions and comments. Each individual is limited 00:19:15.302 --> 00:19:23.417 - to three minutes. Anyone wishing to have time at the podium, come forward now and or raise your hand 00:19:23.417 --> 00:19:31.933 - if you're on Zoom. Seeing no one rise in chambers, no one online. Come back to council for final comments 00:19:31.933 --> 00:19:35.870 - for this evening. Anyone? I've got one question. 00:19:36.354 --> 00:19:46.819 - to the chief. And I think I've been told this, but I can't remember exactly. But what happened? Does 00:19:46.819 --> 00:19:57.283 - the fire territory stay the same if the reorganization becomes law? The way what the public is going 00:19:57.283 --> 00:20:05.054 - to see will stay the same. The governmental part of it, the territory will 00:20:05.634 --> 00:20:11.814 - basically go away and it will be part of the consolidation. Okay, that's what I thought, but I wanted 00:20:11.814 --> 00:20:18.114 - to clarify that. But the layperson won't see any difference in service or anything. The reason for that 00:20:18.114 --> 00:20:24.658 - is we'll go through two governmental bodies that allows the four-hour territory to one overall governmental 00:20:24.658 --> 00:20:30.716 - body so it's no longer allowed and no longer needed. That's all I have. And to be clear, they won't 00:20:30.716 --> 00:20:34.654 - get the taxes, what the impacts you said to the taxes, all those 00:20:35.202 --> 00:20:42.210 - It's either or. If the reorganization plan, that plan is what will guide your property taxes. If that 00:20:42.210 --> 00:20:49.493 - fails and this goes, this is what will guide your property taxes. Any other questions, comments, council? 00:20:49.493 --> 00:20:51.966 - Seeing none, we'll stand adjourned.