Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Due to financial uncertainty caused by Senate Enrolled Act 1 (SEA 1), the Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory (WWFT) has adjusted its plan from a couple years ago to hire six new firefighters - two per fire station - in 2027.
Instead, Fire Chief Joel Shilling told the WWFT Board on Tuesday while presenting his department’s 2027 budgets to them, they’re looking to hire three new firefighters - one per fire station - and one inspector in 2027.
Presenting personal services under the operating fund, the first of his four budgets, Shilling said, “When Chief (Brian) Mayo was chief he approached the city council and this board to appeal our levy to try to get a levy increase. So part of that plan, which was approved by both this board and the council, was to utilize a portion of it, and that was my first year as chief in my budget and we chose not to take the max levy and just take a portion of that. Then, in the future, come back and - there were several parts to that plan, one of which was hiring an additional six firemen.”
Understanding the changes that are coming with SEA 1 and “all the cuts,” Shilling said he didn’t feel comfortable, and the wage committee didn’t either, of hiring six firemen.
“So I am asking for three additional firemen in this. So this budget does reflect that addition of three firemen and an inspector position. So we will, hopefully, if approved, be adding four firemen - one inspector and three actual firefighters that go on the truck. So their wages are reflected in this, so that’s why you see the 9% increase, and then there also is a 2% increase that the city is talking about giving all of their employees at the recommendation of the wage committee,” Shilling said.
The fire inspector would work under the fire marshal.
The proposed total for salaries and wages under personal services in the operating budget for 2027 is $4,350,000, a 9.07% increase over 2026’s $3,988,200.
Including employee benefits, such as FICA and PERF, and clothing allowances and personal cell phones, the total for personal services under the operating fund is proposed for 2027 at $6,879,050, a 6.50% increase over 2026’s $6,459,260.
The total for the operating fund for 2027 is proposed at $7,590,550, a 6.69% increase over 2026’s $7,114,410.
The next budget, equipment replacement fund, is where the fire territory buys all of its capital purchases out of, Shilling explained.
“We increased the station repairs and maintenance by 30.40%,” he said, from $125,000 in 2026 to $163,000 in 2027. “As we’re making some changes and doing things with the way our station captains are set up, we’re finding more and more things that need maintained that haven’t been in the past, so that’s why you see an increase there.”
Councilman Mike Klondaris said, “It’s an aging station.” Shilling agreed they have a couple aging stations.
The ladder 13 lease payment of $203,000 also comes out of the equipment replacement fund. It’s the same as 2026.
While other services and charges have a proposed 11.59% increase for 2027, capital outlays has a 40.38% decrease, giving the entire equipment replacement fund budget a decrease of 28.13% from $1,391,450 in 2026 to $1 million in 2027.
The hazardous materials response fund is not funded by tax dollars, Shilling pointed out. “Through Indiana code, fire departments are allowed to bill for any hazardous materials responses that they go to, and so Indiana code dictates what can be utilized and spent out of those funds, if you so choose to have one of those funds,” he said.
For 2027, the fund is budgeted at $7,100, up 408.33% from the $1,200 budgeted in 2026. The increase is primarily due to $4,000 budgeted for hazmat training.
The last proposed budget Shilling presented was the fire pension fund at $281,480 in 2027, up 2.18% from $275,480 in 2026.
The WWFT Board approved all the budgets as presented. Shilling will present them to the Warsaw Common Council at 6 p.m. Aug. 17.
Monthly Reports
Earlier in the meeting, Shilling gave his monthly operations board report for June.
The fire territory had 243 total emergency responses in June, with 60 (24.7%) of those overlapping. He said the number of overlapping incidents is slightly higher than it has been recently.
Of the 243 calls, 151 of them were medical related; 45, non-emergency; 20, public service, 15, hazardous situations; and 12 fire calls.
Station 17 had 117 responses in their district, with station 13 having 97 and station 15, 29.
For those 243 calls, the fire territory had 444 apparatuses respond.
For the month of June, they had 479 hours of training and seven hours of community service. The community service hours were down due in part to school not being in session.
In her director’s report for Lutheran EMS, Alicia Mediano did a recap of the last three months as she was unable to attend the meetings the last couple months.
“I am happy to say that our numbers are pretty steady. You’ll see in May we had a very busy month, which I know from reading the minutes that Warsaw Fire also reported as a busy month as well,” she said.
Lutheran’s run volume in June was down with only a total of 415 calls, she said, but wasn’t sure why. “But, again, we’re still trending right there for the year where we expect to be,” Mediano said.
While total encounters were 415 in June, they were 473 in May; 459, April; 466, March; 435, February; and 458 in January.
“Over the last three months, we’ve had four new paramedics that have come out. We’ve actually been able to have two double paramedic trucks in the area,” Mediano said. “And as you talk to services around us, they oftentimes are struggling to get paramedics. There’s actually a national shortage, let alone a state shortage of paramedics, so the fact that we have these two double paramedic trucks that are running frequently is really a huge blessing to our community.”
In other business, the WWFT Board approved:
• Accepting a grant through Indiana Work and Learn that will reimburse the fire territory for up to 50% of the territory’s wage expenses for two worked-based learning students from the Warsaw Area Career Center. Shilling said they applied for the grant back in May. Two students have been selected, and they will start Monday, pending approval from the Board of Public Works and Safety on Friday.
• The monthly expenditure reports as presented, including the operating and equipment replacement funds for June.
• All of the travel requests, as presented by Shilling.
The next meeting of the WWFT Board is at 4 p.m. Sept. 1 at the Warsaw City Hall Council Chambers.
