MILLBURY – Lake Township EMS is on life support and needs an infusion of funds to continue operating.

Amid accusations of lack of accountability and responsibility – as well as comments in support — trustees on Aug. 13 explained the reason for the 1.5-mill levy that will appear on the Nov. 5 ballot.

The $530,000 raised will pay for four new full-time paramedics.

“We’re at a critical point of hiring and losing paramedics,” said interim fire Chief David Henninger.

Four paramedics have left this year for full-time departments, for “better pay, pensions and insurance,” he said.

Three of the five paramedics left are being scouted, he added.

If we lose those three, the department will only be able to offer basic life support, he said.

According to the American Red Cross, basic life support focuses on giving immediate care at the scene in order to stabilize and support life functions through basic techniques like CPR and AED until help arrives.

“They can’t do anything for you other than put you on a stretcher and drive you to a hospital,” said Capt. Brandon Rosebrock.

Paramedics, in comparison, can offer advanced life support, including advanced airway management, IV access, medication administration, and advanced cardiac life support.

Rosebrock said when he started in 2017, there were 20 paramedics and “we were fighting for hours.”

“Everyone’s leaving for full-time (departments),” he said.

The levy would allow the township to pay full-time paramedics $27 per hour plus benefits.

In comparison, Toledo hourly pay starts at $29.46, Perrysburg pays $33.37, Perrysburg Township pays $27.29, and Waterville pays $24.29.

The 1.5 mills will cost the owner of a $100,000 home $53 a month or $4.42 per day, said fiscal officer John Ervin.

Most of the 50-plus people in attendance voiced support of the proposed levy.

The department needs advanced life support coverage, said Jim Meyer, Walbridge.

He said if his kid is playing and falls off the swing set, punctures a lung and has internal bleeding, “I want to make sure the best people arrive at the scene.”

He said he could care less about the numbers.

“If it can ensure my family is in good hands … I will pay what I have to pay. …” he said.

When it comes to EMS, I’d rather have a paramedic, agreed Henry “Hank” Buzza, Walbridge.

Ervin said without the levy, the EMS department will be in the red by the end of the year and funds will have to come from elsewhere.

We felt that if we didn’t put this levy out there, there would be nothing left of the department at the end of the year, said Trustee Melanie Bowen-Greenwald, “and that scares me.”

“I had hoped to not ask for a levy this year,” she said.

“We need your input. I don’t have all the answers, but I don’t know what to do with this,” she said. “We wouldn’t be doing out job if we didn’t sit down and have a conversation about this.”

Several years ago, an Ohio Fire Chiefs’ Association fire district feasibility study looked at the concept and possible operation of a joint fire and EMS district with Lake Township, Rossford and Northwood.

Rossford earlier this summer decided to fund its own full-time departments.

Township Administrator Mark Hummer, who is also the police chief, said Northwood has indicted interest in the joint district. It would take 9 mills to fund it, he said.

“Regardless, we’re all in the position now we need people,” he said.

K. Rose Gacsal, Millbury, pointed out residents pay more for the senior citizen levy than for fire services.

We need to decide what is important, she said.

Jennifer Zam, Walbridge, said she’d like to see the financial breakdown of the department.

“You wany us to give you money, I’d like to see where it’s going and how it’s being spent,” she said.

Ervin said the township wasn’t hiding anything, and he’d be happy to provide that information.

“I’m not going to respond to you or anyone asking questions on social media,” he told Zam.

“I don’t know why we’re being accused of hiding anything,” Bowen-Greenwald said. “We do the best that we can. Nobody’s hiding anything and I’m being tired of being told I am.”

If you want collaboration and cooperation, you need transparency and fiscal accountability, Zam said.

Walbridge Councilman Thomas Urbina said if every expended cent is clear, you wouldn’t have a lot of push back.

“It’s a messaging error,” he said.

Gacsal said she also wanted to see a balance sheet.

“Show us the numbers and you’ll see the people say we’re behind it,” she said.

One audience member suggested the township put the numbers on the website, then there can’t be any accusations of not being transparent.

Henninger said there is not guarantee even with the levy passage that the department will be able to hire the necessary personnel.

Urbina also raised the question of why dispatch services were being paid for out of the fire and EMS budget and not just the police budget.

Bowen-Greenwald explained that fire, EMS and police use the services.

“If they’re using it, why can’t they pay for it,” she said.

Ervin said the $86,000 in the fire/EMS budget used for dispatch “doesn’t move the needle.”

Bowen-Greenwald said the department was planning a pancake breakfast fundraiser and a car show.

We have to start somewhere and take small steps because last fall was a disaster, she said.

The township in November is also asking voters to support a 1 mill, 5-year renewal for fire protection.

That levy first passed in 1990 and collects $530,000 annually.

Henninger suggested the levy be reevaluated and possibly replaced to collect on the township’s new value and cover the additional residents now requiring services.

Ervin pointed out a replacement is harder to pass.

In November, voters rejected a 4.2-mill levy to fund a full-time fire and EMS department.