Hanover voters pass levy, save fire department

The Hanover Fire District levy supporting nearly 98% of the budget for the fire and EMS departments passed with nearly 56% of the vote in unofficial results in the township’s third attempt to convince voters during the general election on Nov. 3.

The 3.5 mill levy will collect $1.1 million annually to fund department operations over the course of five years, costing taxpayers approximately $123 per $100,000 of their estimated property value. 

“I’m really grateful to the community for the support that they gave the levy last night,” Interim Township Administrator Mike Jackson told the Oxford Free Press on Nov. 4. “What it does is it ensures that we have an operating budget for the next five years to continue to provide essential fire and EMS services.”

The levy replaces the current levy, for which this was the last collection year at a rate based on property values from 2016.

The township first pitched a new levy to voters during the November 2025 primary election, which also would have collected at a rate of 3.5 mills, but it was rejected. Hanover tried again during the May primary election, asking 5 mills, and it was voted down.

Jackson said of why this election was different, “I think communication was better this time,” adding improvements in the township’s social media use and scheduling community events, including a Q&A at the fire department, may have helped get the message about the levy across.

“I think we have tried to become more accessible to the community, and being transparent, I think, is also key,” Jackson said. “I think they understood that if the levy failed, there was no stopgap.”

Nov. 3 was Hanover’s last chance of passing a levy before it would need to dissolve its fire and EMS department or find an alternative solution to cover the massive hole in its budget going into 2027.

Former township administrator Bruce Henry previously said around 43% of the funding from the levy goes toward paying personnel for EMS and fire runs, while the rest goes toward paying for the facility, equipment and fuel, among other expenses.

At an April board meeting, Hanover trustees voted to divert $300,000 from the general fund to the fire department to help cover an existing gap. In June, trustees voted to end contracts for two Butler County Sheriff’s Office Deputies to save the township around $261,000 annually, although Henry said the money wasn’t necessarily meant for the fire department and could cover budget holes in any township operations.

After the levy failed for the second time in May, former fire chief Fred Stitsinger told Hanover trustees that people at his department were asking if they needed to find new jobs. Paul Smith was appointed as the new fire chief in June following Stitsinger’s retirement, and he told the Oxford Free Press, after 31 years as a fireman, he would still serve the township even if Hanover could no longer pay him.

Smith said of the election results, “It just means that we get to continue serving our residents of Hanover Township like we want to.”

“Keeps myself and my deputy chief from having to make cuts, lose people, so on and so forth,” Smith said. “The group of employees that we have right now are fantastic, and we couldn’t do all this without them. And if we (were) to have to make cuts and then pass the levy, say in the future, then you have to start all over again to find those good people, and it’s just a relief that we don’t have to do that now.”

Smith said up until election night, the staff at the fire department “stuck through” for the results of the levy, although a few members moved onto full-time positions at larger departments elsewhere. Although the fire department likely wouldn’t have fully dissolved if the levy didn’t pass, Smith said it would have resorted to a fully volunteer basis and relied on mutual aid.

With the updated property valuations and increased collections allowed by the new levy as costs increase, Smith said, “It lets us continue to currently do exactly what we’re doing now, which is staff three people 24/7.”

“We’re able to continue to repair vehicles (and) keep up with the newer supplies that come out for the fire and EMS service,” Smith said. “The prices are rising and costing us more.”

Additionally, Smith said under his leadership, the department has worked around the clock to gather support for the levy and the fire and EMS crews.

Following two recent retirements and one resignation of the former fire chief, the township administrator and former trustee Larry Miller, respectively, Jackson said new individuals coming in “brings new opportunity, and I think if we just get back to being service-driven … and that understanding that everything we do is for the benefit of our community, then I think our future is bright at Hanover.”