Bath Twp. Trustee Steve Ross said the township has not yet signed a contract with Fairborn. Ross didn’t respond to other questions from the Dayton Daily News.
Fairborn City Manager Rob Anderson said the had historically provided emergency medical and fire services to Bath Twp. since before Fairborn was a city.
“I understand why they did what they did a few years ago, but we were able to get past that and negotiate a good-faith contract that was fair to both,” he said.
According to the terms of the proposed contract, Bath Twp. would pay Fairborn $75,000 next year for services to cover two zones on the northeast and northwest side of Fairborn, Anderson said.
If approved, Bath Twp. would add Zone 4 in 2022, paying $375,000. In 2023, when Zone 3 would be added, the township would pay $550,000 until 2028, at which point the rates will increase at a rate based on the consumer price index, Anderson said.
In 2018, to renew the five-year contract with Bath Twp., the city asked for annual costs to go up above $1 million for 2019 and $1.2 million for each of the subsequent years, according to Dayton Daily News reports at the time. Bath Twp. paid $689,000 for Fairborn’s fire service in 2018, which was mostly paid through property taxes from a fire levy.
Bath Twp. declined that cost hike and contracted with Miami, Bethel and Beavercreek Twps. for fire and EMS instead.
In April 2020, Fairborn voters approved a 10-year income tax increase to pay for police, fire and emergency services. The income tax for someone making $50,000 is an additional $20.83 per month. That adds up to an additional $250 every year for 10 years.
The tax will take effect on Jan. 1, 2021, and generate about $4.8 million annually for emergency services funds.
Anderson said the tax increase means Fairborn was able to negotiate a better rate with Bath Twp., but the township will still be contributing significantly to Fairborn’s costs.
“We’re now able to go back to Bath Township and offer this, which isn’t as much as they would have paid under the previous contract but still is enough to cover our costs to service them,” he said.
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