AUSTINTOWN Fire station debate

Township trustees have decided to close fire station No. 4 on the corner of New and South Turner roads to save money. Some part-time firefighters assigned to the station say the closing is a bad idea. Here are both sides of the argument:
TRUSTEES
The township needs to cut between $500,000 to $700,000 by the end of the year to avoid a deficit.
Some of the budget problems stem from rising health-care costs, which increased $250,000 this year. The state also is considering cutting $635,000 in funding to the township, and a pending tax appeal could cost the township $500,000. The state also is reducing the amount of revenue the township would receive from inventory taxes.
Closing the station will have a minimal affect on response time. Part-time firefighters at the station were first to respond to a call less than 10 times in 2002.
The township's fire levies do not produce enough revenue to pay for equipment, supplies and increases in wages. About $383,000 from the general fund is slated to be used to pay fire department expenses this year.
Layoffs will be necessary, because 87 percent of the township's budget pays for wages and benefits.
FIREFIGHTERS
Response time to calls on the west side of the township could double when No. 4 is closed.
Even if part-time firefighters aren't the first to respond to a call, they're still needed to back up full-time firefighters.
Trustees couldn't shut off electricity to the station and save on utility bills, because the station runs the emergency sirens on the township's west side. The station also is designed to serve as an emergency shelter.
The township is slated to receive $1.8 million from fire levies this year, the same amount it received last year. About $1.2 million is spent on wages and benefits.
Part-time firefighters helped the township save money in 1997 by agreeing to take a pay cut from $11 an hour to $8. The pay cut has allowed the township to save a total of $323,386 in the past five years.
Trustees should have foreseen the budget problems. Instead, they voted to give Michael Dockry, township administrator, and Fire Chief Andrew Frost raises early last year. Township officials also haven't replaced a pumper truck and the roofs of two fire stations with money raised from the fire levy approved by voters in 2000 as they promised.