Elected officials voted last night (Tuesday night) to expand the Clay Fire Territory by adding Penn Township and the town of Osceola.
The Clay Fire Territory now consists of Clay, Harris and German townships, and the towns of Roseland and Indian Village. Tuesday night the boards for Penn Township and Osceola voted to join, effective March 31.
On Facebook Wednesday, Harris Township Trustee Ken Lindsay said, “We’re thrilled to have secured the funding required to pay our Fire and EMS first responders an extremely competitive market rate.”
In Harris and Penn, the expansion will roughly double the fire service portion of the property tax rate.
Nancy Duncan, the Democratic candidate for Penn Township Trustee, opposed the expansion. She says firefighters are already paid well, with many making salaries in the $80,000 and $90,000 range.
Duncan more open :17 … “They were so secretive about what they did, it was not broadly explained and discussed. That was the reason I went, you know what, before we go and jump in and start doubling people’s taxes, why don’t you be more open to the problem and open to the discussion of more alternatives.”
