Fire Districts

[PAKRAT23]

NEED SOME INFO. ON FIRE DISTRICTS AND MERGERS...
I AM ON A VOL. DEPT THAT IS ABOUT TO MERGE WITH OUR EMS.THUS FORMING A FIRE DISTRICT..ACCORDING TO OUR BOARD WE ARE GOING TO DO THIS TO JOIN MANPOWER SO THEY CAN PUT ON A LEVY TO HAVE PAID PERSONEL ON STATION PART TIME....
THE PART THAT I DIDNT AGREE WITH IS THE PART WHERE THE BOARD SAYS THEY WILL HAVE TO POWER TO CHOOSE THE OFFICERS OF OUR DEPT..CURRENTLY WE CHOSE OUR OWN OFFICERS....THEY ALSO SAY THEY WILL BE DOING THE HIRING AND FIRING OF PERSONEL..EVEN VOLUNTEERS.???..THEY SAY THAT THIS IS SOME TYPE OF LAW WHEN YOU MAKE A FIRE DISTRICT...ANY INFO WOULD HELP..THANKS...

[MJFD10]

Fire districts are a useful form of operation in Ohio ,We have been one for over 25 years . But first ,you must understand your governing system .Is the dept a private dept contracted to a township or town or is it already controlled by a unit of goverment -if it is these Ohio code rules already apply. If a gov't unit wants to form a fire-ems district it must follow rules set in Ohio revised code (you can research them thru www.state.oh.us ), one of which allows a district to raise its own taxes by a voted levy . However ,even then that district may contract necessary services from other organizations. If the district itself operates the fire-ems system ,yes the board will have the power to appoint the chief by code and each member must be appointed . If the district contracts service ,the governing of the department still remains with the department . Find out exactly what is being proposed and maybe I can help further

[PAKRAT23]

THANKS FOR THE REPLY ..ANY HELP IS APPRICIATED...WHERE DO I GO ON THE OHIO WEB SITE PUBLIC SAFETY OR WHAT....IN THE MEAN TIME I WILL BE LOOKING...
I DIDNT THINK ANYONE WAS GOING TO REPLY...

[MJFire]

pakrat
go to state main page
click Government
click OHIO Legislative Branch
click Laws
then revised code