In November, Bowling Green (BG) residents will vote on a proposed income tax levy to help fund the construction of two new fire stations.
The tax levy includes a 0.15% increase to the city’s income tax and a reallocation of capital funds. Greg Robinette, city council member at-large in BG, said that the city is currently not in a position to build the new facilities.
“There was recognition through the last two years that we’ve got a structural deficit in our capital funds,” said Robinette. “What this means is we just don’t have enough funds for major capital purchases, which would include improvements to facilities. The funds aren’t there now.”
Tony Zmarzly, deputy chief of Bowling Green’s Fire Division, said that along with the new fire stations, the proposed tax levy will also help improve the division’s equipment.
“Our current aerial ladder truck is over 20 years old now and typically we like to replace those every 20 years. Ambulances get replaced every 10 to 15 years,” said Zmarzly.
Zmarzly also said the construction of the new fire stations would help improve response times. Along with having a more modern design for the buildings, the locations of the new stations are important to ensure the community is safe.
“By strategically locating those stations within the city, we can cover a large area,” said Zmarzly. “Our goal is a four-minute response time. We have very intelligent software we use. The software takes into account speed limits, road widths and turning radius, so we can model that four-minute response anywhere in the city.”
Improving response times was a major reason for having the proposed tax levy for both Zmarzly and Robinette, as both said BG’s growth as a city warrants new fire stations.
“What we’re doing is trying to deal with community growth and getting ahead of that,” said Zmarzly. “A combination of those strategic locations of the new fire station locations and modern station design will improve those response times and account for the growth of the city in the future.”
“It is critical that we have improved response times,” said Robinette. “The city’s growing and the number of calls by the fire division, particularly the EMT calls on fire, has gone up dramatically over the last few years and studies have shown that our response times are weak
and take too long in certain areas of the community.”
Robinette also said that, along with maintaining the safety of BG’s residents, improving response times also has other benefits for the community.
“It’s important also because response times are factored into insurance rates. There are all kinds of benefits to having an efficient, effective fire service,” said Robinette.
More information and data regarding the levy will become available as the November election approaches. Robinette sees the levy as beneficial for the Bowling Green community.
“All the data is available and I’m sure it will be made even more available by the city as it gets closer to November,” said Robinette. “It’s a win-win, the safety of the citizens and making the city safer, there are all kinds of effects of that levy.”
The passing of the levy is crucial in Robinette’s eyes and if the levy does not pass this November, Robinette made it clear that the city council will keep trying in the future and find a new way to fund the new fire stations.
“If the citizens don’t vote for this method of funding the fire stations, the city will have to go back to the drawing board and find another way,” said Robinette. “We’re going to have to do this; it is too critical and I think that’s the effort to show the citizens what the fire division is
doing.”
The general election for the proposed tax levy and for the city council at-large seats is Nov. 4, 2025
