Mooresville, Brown Township Hold Final Hearing on Proposed Fire Territory; Vote Set for March 20

Mooresville Town Council and the Brown Township board held a third required public hearing on March 6 to consider forming a fire territory to combine fire and EMS services. Fire Chief Matt Dalton and Paige Sansone, CPA with Baker Tilly, presented a staffing plan and a financial analysis that showed the combined fire territory budget would rise to about $8.7 million from a current combined operating baseline of roughly $4.7 million. The boards will take a formal vote on whether to adopt the territory at a joint session scheduled for March 20.

The proposal presented by fire officials would create a single locally controlled fire territory governed by an executive board with representatives from the town and the township. “This is not a fire district,” attorney Jeff Bellamy told the assembled residents and officials, explaining the territorial option under Indiana law and the next steps that follow fiscal-body approval. Chief Dalton described a staffing and operations plan that he said would raise the department’s minimum daily staffing and align apparatus staffing with national response goals. Dalton said the proposed organization would include five administrative positions and 39 operational personnel — “2 shift commanders, 3 captains, 3 lieutenants, 18 firefighters, 6 EMTs and 6 paramedics” — to staff engines, a ladder and ambulances if the territory is adopted.

Why it matters: proponents say the territory is intended to address persistent staffing and readiness shortfalls and to make long-term capital and personnel planning possible across the two units. Opponents said the tax impact is too large and urged the boards to seek other options, such as contracting ambulance service from Morgan County EMS, phasing hires, leasing equipment or directing one-time federal relief funds toward the first-year reserve.

Financial details and tax impact Paige Sansone of Baker Tilly presented the required fiscal impact materials and the statutory equipment-replacement-fund calculation. She said the territory’s first-year funding needs, including a one-time cash reserve, would require a property-tax levy that translates to a territory property-tax rate of about 0.7286 (per $100 of assessed value) to generate the dollars shown in the plan. Sansone said the fire territory’s combined operating and capital plan would produce a first-year budget of roughly $9.9 million before other revenues; after vehicle excise tax and anticipated ambulance billing revenue, the property-tax levy requirement was shown at about $8.6 million.

Sansone noted the statute permits an equipment replacement fund at a maximum rate of 0.0333 (3.33¢). She also walked the audience through examples the analysis used to show household impacts: using the consultants’ assumptions, a $100,000 home in Brown Township would see the portion of its tax bill devoted to fire services rise from about $51 to about $163 in the first full year; a $100,000 home inside Mooresville town limits would see the fire portion rise from about $27 to about $162. Sansone said the levy and rate would likely fall somewhat in following years as the statutory one-time reserve could not be re-levied.

Operational case and timeline Chief Dalton and other department presenters framed the territory as a response to rising equipment and personnel costs, longer delivery lead times for apparatus, and the loss of personnel to neighboring departments. Dalton said equipment lead times can be years — engines and ladders were described as taking roughly three years for delivery — and that the territory would permit multi-year capital planning and a staffing model intended to keep an ambulance staffed 24/7 and to meet higher on-scene staffing levels.

Union and outside experts Quentin Humbarger, president of the Morgan County Professional Firefighters Union Local 4555, and Ross Sergi, a data analyst with the Professional Firefighters Union of Indiana and an employee of the Brownsburg Fire Territory, spoke in favor of the territory’s staffing objectives. Sergi cited staffing standards and response-time expectations used by larger jurisdictions and said territories across the state have been formed for similar reasons. Humbarger, summarizing health and safety risks he said stem from understaffing, asked the community directly: “Are you worth it? Is your child worth it? Are we worth it?”

Public concerns and alternatives More than two dozen residents spoke during public comment. Objections concentrated on the size and timing of the tax increase, uneven impacts on fixed-income residents, and what several speakers called a rushed outreach process. Residents urged alternative or additional analyses: phasing in personnel increases; leasing apparatus instead of buying; using American Rescue Plan Act funds for an initial reserve; and a county-provided ambulance service. Morgan County EMS Director Brent Worth described his agency’s 24/7 paramedic service and said the county is expanding to place additional ambulances in the northern part of the county; he said contracting county ambulance coverage would alter the revenue and levy math and would require discussions of which unit (town/township/county) would levy for ambulance service.

Board process and next steps Attorney Jeff Bellamy and Paige Sansone reiterated statutory steps: Indiana law requires three public hearings (the March 6 meeting was the third) and then a public meeting at which the fiscal bodies may vote to adopt the territory; if adopted by both fiscal bodies, the units would file to the Department of Local Government Finance to request an initial maximum levy. Bellamy cautioned the boards that both participating parties must approve; the territory cannot be created by only one unit acting alone.

At the close of the hearing, meeting leaders described options to bring to the March 20 session: (1) reject the territory; (2) adopt it as presented; (3) adopt a modified version with specified cuts; or (4) adopt with a not-to-exceed levy cap included in the ordinance/resolution language. Officials said they would return with revised figures and clarifications after hearing residents’ concerns.

Votes at a glance - Motion to approve Jan. 30 meeting minutes: motion seconded and approved by voice vote. (Transcript: motion moved and seconded; recorded as approved.) - Motion to approve Feb. 20 meeting minutes: motion seconded and approved by voice vote. - Motion to adjourn: motion seconded and approved by voice vote. - Formal decision on fire territory: none at this meeting; a joint vote is scheduled for March 20.

What was not decided No ordinance or levy was adopted at the March 6 hearing. The boards did not set a final levy, did not sign any interlocal agreement, and did not direct staff to execute any contracts. The March 20 session is the scheduled decision point under the statutory timeline.

Ending The March 6 session was the final statutorily required public hearing; it was followed by extensive public comment that produced no consensus. Board members and officials said they would rework fiscal options and return to the March 20 meeting ready for formal action or to present alternative approaches.

(Reporting note: all numbers in this article — budget totals, proposed staffing, tax-rate calculations and examples — come from the presentations and public comments at the March 6, 2025 joint meeting of the Mooresville Town Council and the Brown Township Board. Quotations and speaker attributions come from the meeting transcript.)