Study will examine uniting fire districts
Jackson solicits firm to conduct first phase
BY MARK ROSMAN Staff Writer
Jackson officials have taken the first step toward determining whether sharing services with or consolidating Jackson's fire districtsmight serve the community better than the present system of four separate fire districts.

A legal notice published in a local daily newspaper last week is soliciting firms to bid on a job "to prepare a SHARE grant application and conduct a feasibility study to determine whether shared services and/or the consolidation of Jackson Township fire districts into one unified fire district will best serve the township."

Proposals for the job will be submitted to the township, opened and read at 11 a.m.April 16.At present, Jackson is divided into four fire districts. Each district is served by a board of commissioners and a fire company. The operation of a fire district is supported by an assessment that appears on a property owner's property tax bill.

The 2007 tax rate in each fire district follows:

• Fire District 1 - 16 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. The owner of a home assessed at the township average of $150,000 in Fire District 1 paid about $240 in fire district taxes in 2007. The owner of a home assessed at $250,000 in Fire District 1 paid about $400 in fire district taxes. The owner of a home assessed at $350,000 in Fire District 1 paid about $560 in fire district taxes.

• Fire District 2 - 10.1 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. The owner of a home assessed at the township average of $150,000 in Fire District 2 paid about $151 in fire district taxes in 2007. The owner of a home assessed at $250,000 in Fire District 2 paid about $252 in fire district taxes. The owner of a home assessed at $350,000 in Fire District 2 paid about $353 in fire district taxes.

• Fire District 3 - 17.9 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. The owner of a home assessed at the township average of $150,000 in Fire District 3 paid about $268 in fire district taxes in 2007. The owner of a home assessed at $250,000 in Fire District 3 paid about $447 in fire district taxes. The owner of a home assessed at $350,000 paid about $626.

• Fire District 4 - 14.1 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. The owner of a home assessed at the average of $150,000 in District 4 paid about $211 in taxes in 2007. The owner of a home assessed at $250,000 paid about $352. The owner of a home assessed at $350,000 in District 4 paid about $493.

Township Administrator Phil Del Turco said Jackson is taking advantage of an opportunity provided by the state Department of Community Affairs to examine shared services and programs. The township is looking into shared services and programs with the school district.

Del Turco said the process would be twofold: in the initial step, a feasibility study would be conducted to develop information about shared services or programs between two entities (i.e., the township and the fire districts). Pending those findings, shared services and/or programs could be implemented.

Del Turco noted that in the present case involving the planned study of Jackson's fire districts, the township is not at the implementation stage. He said that during this process, "we will want to coordinate and communicate with the fire districts. That is critical."