New income tax could help struggling Dubois County volunteer fire departments

With the average cost of new vehicles and safety gear increasing by 20 to 30 percent in recent years, local volunteer fire departments are finding it challenging to continue relying on fundraisers and township funding as their sole sources of income.

During a recent Dubois County Fire Chiefs meeting, members of the Dubois County Council and representatives from the City of Jasper attended to discuss those issues and the impact of a public safety tax.

Indiana law allows counties to implement a public safety tax of 0.25 and 0.50 percent to be added to the county’s income tax rate. These funds are split between all safety and emergency services in the county — law enforcement, fire departments, emergency medical services, 9-1-1 dispatch communications etc.

Currently, income tax in Dubois County is at 1.2 percent — 0.2 percent of that is the Correctional and Rehabilitative Facilities Local Income Tax passed to help pay for the upgraded security center and community corrections project. The income taxes collected are divided between the cities, towns, and the county for various uses. For example, the county uses its portion of the collected income tax to help fund the general fund as property tax relief. The remaining amount is set aside for economic development.

If the county — or cities and towns — voted to enact a public safety tax with an additional 0.25 percent, that would result in an additional $3.8 million available for public safety, which includes police, fire, 911 services, and emergency medical services. A 0.5 percent increase would result in about $7.68 million for those same services. Those funds would also be divided between the county, cities and towns.

The state also passed a funding bill allowing a percentage of the public safety tax to fund volunteer fire departments. However, according to Auditor Sandy Morton, how those funds are divided is causing some confusion. In speaking with the Department of Local Government Finance, she was told they would likely have to clarify some language in that bill so taxing entities know how the funds will be disbursed. Currently, the funds are divided by the amount of real property in a fire district. So, the more rural, undeveloped fire districts with high amounts of farmland or woodland would receive a smaller portion than districts with more structures like houses and businesses.

During the discussion held at the new Dubois Fire Station, Jasper Mayor Dean Vonderheide said that in talks with state legislators, they were advised that local government units will need to rely on the income tax options available to fund local programs as the state looks at ways to cut property taxes.

“We’ve got to take responsibility for funding some of these departments because later on (state) funding may not be there,” Vonderheide said.

He also noted that because Dubois County isn’t taking advantage of these additional taxes to fund safety services, they are less likely to be considered for additional funding from the state.

“So, what they’re (state) doing is looking at us and saying, if you’ve got access to funding that you’re not using, where you can use it, then don’t come to us and ask for money,” Jasper City Attorney Renee Kabrick said. “Because if you’re not going to take what’s available to you, then why should we give you anything else?”

She added that taking advantage of available taxing strategies allows the government units to be more competitive when seeking other funding dollars from the state.

Serving on the local volunteer fire departments comes with a commitment to not only spend time training and responding to fires but also participate in fundraising events, said St. Anthony Fire Chief Scott Uebelhor. “It’s tough. We spend more time on our fundraising than we do on training. It’s kind of bothersome.”

He noted that he isn’t having issues recruiting new volunteers, but sometimes, they are surprised by how much time they are committed to fundraising. However, they all want to serve their community.

“I just think it’s really kind of sad that volunteer fire departments have to have fundraisers on weekends to be able to pay their operating expenses for the year,” said Jasper Fire Chief Kenny Hochgesang.

A truck purchased in 1990 for $90,000 now costs $400,000. “It’s impossible to keep up with that,” Uebelhor said. “We can’t provide the services we want if we don’t do something.”

To stretch the available dollars, all the departments are pushing equipment and vehicles beyond the point of consistent reliability. The question on their minds is whether they can get equipment and responders to an emergency and if that safety equipment will work when they get there.

“I’ve got three trucks from the 1990s,” said Huntingburg Fire Chief Donnie Heim. “These are emergency vehicles, and when people call 911, they expect us to show up. It’s getting harder and harder to keep them operational.”

Uebelhor added that the St. Anthony department has a 1999 truck with only 14,000 miles on it. But 24 years is still 24 years. “It looks like new, but because the oil sensor had a break in it, we have oil on the floor, and it’s out of service,” he said. “How can we put a guy on the end of a hose line on a truck that might fail while he’s in a building? I can’t do it.”

Equipment, like the air packs firefighters wear while fighting a fire, entering a building, or going into a chemical spill, also has a lifespan. And the prices of that equipment have increased considerably over the past three years. Air packs the Jasper Fire Department purchased in 2021 cost $6,200 each, and today, those same air packs are $8,500.

“I’ve got 31 (air packs), and they are 15 years old,” Heim said, noting that they are tested to ensure they work, but he always has concerns.

Earlier this year, Sheriff Tom Kleinhelter asked the Dubois County Council to consider adding a safety tax to help fund the additional deputies he requested. The council was reticent about adding any new taxes. However, the cities in Dubois County have the votes to pass the income tax if they want it — Huntingburg and Jasper alone have the majority of the percentage needed to add the income tax.

Celestine Volunteer Fire Department Chief Ryan Wineinger said that his department is fortunate because it receives funding from the two townships it serves. “But it’s not near enough to cover the costs,” he said. “We’re doing what we can to stretch the dollars, but we need help.”

Moving forward, the chiefs plan on creating ten-year expense and replacement cost estimates for their departments so the public and councils can understand their needs to continue to provide fire and emergency services for Dubois County. They plan on having the data pulled together by the end of January.

If a tax is adopted between January and August 2024, the new tax will appear on October pay stubs. If a new tax is passed between September and October, the tax will show up in January 2025.

Dubois County Council President Mike Kluesner said his concern in looking at a new income tax is that it will impact everyone in the county, including seniors on fixed incomes.