Amid concerns over aging fire equipment and firefighter staff levels, a Columbus City Council vote sparked allegations that the city is overly reliant on township fire departments.
Suburban departments are handling around 20% of fire and EMS runs for Columbus residents or around 180,000 calls per year, according to the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 67, the union representing Columbus firefighters.
IAFF leaders testifying at City Council’s meeting on June 22 condemned the city for not building enough fire stations as the city has grown, and maintained that the city is counting on neighboring municipalities to pick up the slack. They also questioned the quality of those smaller fire departments’ services, noting the city cannot track the outcomes for those cases.
“This is not how we grow,” said Mark Mattox, a Local 67 trustee.
City Council voted 6-3 to adjust a compensation agreement with Norwich Township regarding a tax increment financing [TIF] area covering the Sugar Farms subdivision on the Far West Side, which was annexed into the city several years ago but also remains part of the township.
Columbus Development Director Michael Stevens and councilmembers who voted for the legislation said the ordinance is purely about an administrative change with the TIF, not a mutual aid agreement. The city agreed in 2008 under the Big Darby Revenue Program to make other municipalities, in this case the Norwich Township Fire Department, whole when they would lose property taxes due to a TIF.
IAFF Local 67 leaders don’t see it as an administrative decision and testified in opposition to the legislation. In written testimony, IAFF Local 67 President Steven Stein said this ordinance expands the Sugar Farms TIF agreement and authorizes the continued provision of fire services to Columbus residents by Norwich Township.
“While the Columbus Fire Department values its strong mutual aid partnerships with neighboring jurisdictions, mutual aid was never intended to replace the city’s responsibility to provide primary emergency services to its own residents,” Stein said.
John Guroy, secretary/treasurer for IAFF Local 67, told The Dispatch after the vote that he was disappointed. During the meeting, he said he was disappointed this was even being considered.
A bit tongue-in-cheek, Guroy thanked the residents of Norwich Township and Hilliard for passing a fire levy in 2024 to staff a new fire station that the city helped pay to build just across the Columbus border by Sugar Farms.
Michael Halloran, a deputy director for the city Department of Public Safety, told the council that public safety has had a hard conversation about how to reduce the number of calls handled by neighboring township fire departments.
“Some things can be policy-driven or procedure-driven on how dispatching goes,” he said. “The other part of that is expansion.”
Halloran said the department is not considering suburban fire stations when planning new stations, and last month added a Far West Side station to the capital improvement plan, pending funding opportunities. Earlier this month, the city dedicated Station 36, a $20 million facility at the intersection of Harlem and Central College roads on the Northwest Side.
On the topic of quality of service, Interim Fire Chief David Baugh said that the fire departments in Franklin County meet and collaborate on procedures and policies, and Columbus “drives the bus” there.
Councilmember Emmanuel Remy, who chairs the council’s public safety committee and voted for the measure, said the firefighters’ union is raising important points and agreed there’s a larger conversation that needs to happen. He is holding a public hearing on Thursday about the state of the city’s fire equipment and facilities.
“We want to make sure we’re planning for the future and not getting caught up in these discussions on administrative changes to a TIF,” Remy said. “And that’s what I want to see us avoid in the future.”
The three city councilmembers who voted against the Norwich TIF agreement came from Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin and Councilmembers Rob Dorans and Melissa Green.
“What I think we need is the plan,” Hardin said about his no vote. “I think Thursday gets us a lot closer to having a plan. Folks need to know, as we grow, that the city is taking the appropriate steps to make sure they’re covered by the best service.”
Government and politics reporter Jordan Laird can be reached at jlaird@dispatch.com. Follow her on X, Instagram and Bluesky at @LairdWrites.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus fire union says city needs more stations, relies on suburbs
Reporting by Jordan Laird, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Jordan Laird, Columbus Dispatch | USA TODAY Network
