South Madison Fire Territory gets green light for expansion
After a delay caused by a last-minute addition to Indiana’s latest property tax cap bill passed back in April, the South Madison Fire Territory is now moving forward with its expansion. IPR’s Thomas Ouellette reports.
In February, five townships voted to join the South Madison Fire Territory and adopt a tax levy of 80 cents per $100 dollars of assessed value to fund it. Then in April, Senate Bill 1 capped new fire territory tax levies at only half that amount.
The language capping the levies was originally proposed in House Bill 1402, which didn’t make it out of committee. The limit was than added to Senate Bill 1 shortly before it was voted on.
South Madison Fire Chief Chris Nodine says the language specifying “new territories” landed the expansion in a gray area.
“We were already established for a fire territory,” he said. “But we were merging with other fire territories, so we were waiting for the legal language to come about, whether or not we could get our tax rate, because we were already an existing territory.”
Nodine says the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance recently gave the expansion and its 80 cent tax levy the green light because the territory had already been established.
“Nobody really knew what the results of Senate Bill 1 were going to be,” Nodine said. “Even when I spoke to some of the legislators, they really didn’t understand the whole language of the bill itself. So they were still trying to digest it going forward.”
According to Nodine, the 80 cent levy is expected to be decreased dramatically over the years because of increased development in Madison County.
The new fire territory will include Adams and Stoney Creek townships, and the towns of Markleville, Lapel, and Ingalls.
Nodine says local fire departments in the territory will soon see better staffing, retirement benefits and faster response times.
The expanded fire territory is working towards having upwards of 85 firefighters in service in 2028. Current part-time firefighters will still be utilized and given the option to apply for full-time positions.
Thomas Ouellette is our reporter and producer. Contact him at thomas.ouellette@bsu.edu
