10/18/2026
COMMUNITY QUESTION - With York Township leaving, shouldn’t the fire department’s budget decrease by 25%?
We’ve received this question quite a bit lately from residents throughout our coverage area, and we wanted to take a moment to explain how our department operates and is funded.
One of the biggest misconceptions is that because York Township is one of four municipalities served by our department, its departure should result in a 25% reduction in our budget.
While that might seem like simple math, fire department operating costs don’t work that way. Four municipalities does not mean four equal shares of the budget, and losing one municipality does not mean losing 25% of our expenses.
The majority of our operating costs remain the same regardless of how many municipalities we serve. We still need to pay our firefighters, maintain our apparatus and equipment, provide training, carry insurance, and keep our station operational. Those expenses don’t simply disappear because our coverage area becomes smaller.
Our call volume has also increased significantly over the years. Even without York Township, we anticipate responding to more emergencies annually than we did in a typical year just a few years ago.
So why doesn’t the budget decrease proportionally?
A fire department has to maintain its ability to respond to emergencies whether it runs 1,200 calls or 1,800 calls a year. While some expenses may decrease with a smaller coverage area, the costs of maintaining personnel, apparatus, facilities, and emergency readiness remain largely unchanged.
This is also why an area fire department is so beneficial to our communities. Instead of each municipality operating its own fire department, hiring its own firefighters, purchasing its own fire trucks, and maintaining its own facilities and equipment, multiple municipalities share those resources and expenses.
This shared approach allows our communities to spread the cost of fire protection rather than each municipality having to fund an entirely separate fire department.
While it’s unfortunate to see York Township leave, the benefits of operating an area fire department remain. The City of Milan, Milan Township, and London Township will continue sharing the costs of providing fire protection services.
York Township’s departure also means one fewer municipality contributing financially. As a result, the remaining municipalities will see changes in their respective funding responsibilities. However, sharing personnel, apparatus, facilities, and equipment continues to provide significant financial advantages compared to each municipality maintaining those resources independently.
Fire protection isn’t simply about how many calls we respond to. It’s about maintaining the firefighters, equipment, and readiness necessary to respond when our communities need us.
We understand residents have questions about how their fire department is funded, and we welcome those conversations.
Please leave a comment, send us a message, or stop by the fire station. We’re always happy to answer your questions!
