Latest news with #GenevaFireDepartment
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Geneva Township fire levy passes
JEFFERSON — A 1.75-mill Geneva Township Fire Levy passed Tuesday by a vote of 196-124, assuring continued fire coverage by the Geneva Fire Department, according to unofficial results from the Ashtabula County Board of Elections. The levy will used predominantly to pay the Geneva Fire Department for fire coverage. 'I'm happy as I can be. I want to thank all the township residents that voted for it,' Geneva Township Trustee Tim Mills said. He said it is great that the township will continue to get fantastic service from the Geneva Fire Department. The township reduced the levy to 1.75 mills after a two-mill levy failed three times, Mills said. He said the township decided to reduce the levy in hopes of providing a better chance at passage. He said he is not sure why the levy failed three times, but thought maybe the .25 mill reduction may have helped this time. The two-mill levy provided the township with some extra money to assist the Geneva Fire Department, but the new levy money will leave a couple thousand of dollars extra, Mills said. He said he understood people don't want to pay taxes, but the coverage provided by the Geneva Fire Department goes beyond what the township could provide on its own. Mills said the Geneva Fire Department provides a lot of extras as well. He said the department provides education opportunities through the schools, helped remove snow from roofs during the Thanksgiving weekend snow storm and even assist people who have locked themselves out of their vehicles. Mills said the township would have had to reduce services if the levy had not passed. He said money that goes to other services, especially road maintenance, would have had to go to fire services. In addition, the township would have had to buy fire trucks and turnout gear, Mills said. He also said the response time would have been a problem, as a fire doubles in size every 30 seconds. County-wide, Ashtabula County Board of Elections Director John Mead said there were no issues. 'Everything went really well,' he said. Mead said no issue on the ballot was close enough to trigger an automatic recount. According to unofficial results, voter turnout was 13.7% for the election. Mead was thankful for the people who came out to vote and for the poll workers, who were on the job this election, he said. 'We'll do it all again in November,' he said. By Friday, the board of elections had 728 people vote early at its Jefferson office. Mead said the board received 44 more early votes Saturday and 46 Sunday.
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New levy would help Geneva Township continue with Geneva Fire Department
GENEVA TOWNSHIP — Township officials are taking a new approach to fund the township's fire services through the Geneva Fire Department. Three two-mill levies have failed, so the township decided to go to the voters with a 1.75 mill levy, Geneva Township Trustee Tim Mills said. He said the two-mill levy allowed the township to help the city with a little extra money here and there, but it is more important to pass the levy to provide the best service possible. Mills said it is a challenge to put together millage that will work. 'I get the idea that people don't want to pay taxes,' he said. The important thing to remember is the excellent service received from the Geneva Fire Department, Mills said. He said the Geneva Fire Department does a lot of 'extra' services, ranging from education in the district schools, to assisting people locked out of vehicles, and even this year even helping remove snow from roofs. 'If it doesn't pass, we will have to do some cuts,' Mills said. 'We will have to reduce services.' One of the challenges of potentially creating a township fire department would be purchasing fire trucks, and dealing with reduced response time. He said the Geneva Fire Department response in the township is in the six to eight minute range, and that would likely increase to 16-20 minutes with a township department. 'A fire doubles in size every 30 seconds,' he said of the problems such a lengthy response could create for homeowners. Mills said the fire department even comes to residents' homes if they are unable to change a smoke detector themselves. 'All that stuff would probably go away,' he said. If the levy funds are not approved, the rest of the township services could be hurt as well, Mills said. 'We'd have to buy stuff out of our general fund,' he said. Mills said he is proud of the township's snow removal record, and that could suffer, as more money would have to be devoted to a potential township fire department. The township does have a building that could house a fire truck, but the purchase of new trucks is very expensive, and functional used trucks are hard to find, he said. The national fire service ISO rating could also suffer, resulting in possible higher insurance rates for area businesses and homes. 'Our iso rating with the Geneva Fire Department is a three,' Mills said. 'On a volunteer department, that could be a six or an eight.' Early in-person voting started April 8, and absentee voting by mail also started the same day. Election Day is May 6, with polls open from 6:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m.
