Firefighter cuts eyed in Lawrence Twp.

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Taxes are likely to go up for people in Lawrence Township, according to their township trustee. The extra money will help pay off a loan but that's only part of the financial problem facing the township.

Trustee Russell Brown has done the math. The township spends $15.5 million on its fire department. Its property tax revenues are a little under $9 million.

"So, the deficit, between property tax revenues collected and expected expenditures under the budget as currently constructed, is about $6.7 million for 2010."

Brown said salaries absorb most of the department's spending. So, that leaves two options for closing the deficit.

"We can have less people and pay them the same or we can have the same amount of people and pay them less," Brown said.

No one wants layoffs. Chief Michael Blackwell said taxpayers wouldn't like them and calls them dangerous. He said firefighters are shocked by the pay cut option but they prefer it to the alternative.

Blackwell also said firefighters have been advised against making any major purchases or refinancing their homes.

Russell Brown has been on the job for only about two weeks. So, he's quickly learned the magnitude of the department's budget challenges.

"I wish I had more lead time to give to them because it's very difficult for their families. It's gonna have a real impact on firefighters and their families," he said.

The budget hearing is October 27. He'll have to have some answer by then.