The Perry Township Board met Tuesday evening February 10th and agreed to introduce the resolution to merge the Perry Township Fire Department (PTFD) with the Indianapolis Fire Department (IFD). This decision comes after several months of negotiations. The primary focus for Perry Township has consisted of three points. 1) There must be a positive financial outcome for the taxpayer with the merger. 2) There must be protection for PTFD firefighters, such as retaining stations, guaranteeing firefighters will not be eliminated or equipment moved at least through 2010. 3) Services provided to the community must be at the same or better than what is currently being provided. As each speaker introduced their facts supporting consolidation, they confirmed that all three points were being met.

From the financial standpoint, according to Gary Coons Perry Township Trustee, who has been in collaboration with the City Controller, it is estimated that the 2010 fire tax rate would be approximately 5.4 cents less than the tax rate that Perry Township would have to impose to supply the same fire protection to the same area. This rate provides approximately a 20% savings in fire protection property tax for Perry Township taxpayers. In addition to this savings, the merger would also eliminate the double taxation issues that have been previously discussed. Double taxation comes in the form of public safety income tax  which is paid by both the Perry taxpayers and Perry Firefighters. State law only allows cities to collect and use these funds. Townships, like Perry, do not receive any benefits. Also, with Perry taxpayers property tax, each taxpayer pays into a Cumulative Capital Development Fund.  Two million dollars collected for this fund from Marion county is used within IFD.  Trustee Coons has been educating people on this for the past two years.

More than fifty people were in attendance to listen to the presentation and add their perspective. Some designated speakers included Brian Bosma, council for the Board, Jeff Peters, financial advisor to the Board, Dave Reynolds, city finance officer and Scott Newman, Public Safety Director. As each member spoke, they offered further support of the consolidation efforts. Public Safety Director Scott Newman said, “The merger is a move that is proactive in our changing economy. While Perry Township is not in debt or concerned about cutbacks now, with the caps on property taxes these issues could be a reality. Perry is stepping up to make some positive changes for the community and its employees

Chief Robert Zickler also confirmed, “By combining resources, the fire department will act as a single entity. There will be one set standard of operational guidelines and an opportunity for specialty team training and rescue training programs. This will increase the confidence and efficiency of the one fire department.” Chief Brian Sanford of IFD added, “Our combined fire department will continue to provide a high level of response readiness and emergency medical rescue services. Research on this merger has been underway for more than six months at PTFD. The experiences learned from the Washington and Warren Township mergers have provided a learning curve so we avoid the same mistakes as we move forward.” A vote could come as early as 30 days from now, but the final merge will be several months in the future.