JACKSON TWP — With Harmony Fire District asking four municipalities to double their fire tax to help fund a new station, Jackson Township supervisors want more information.

At a board meeting Thursday, all three supervisors expressed concern over what they perceive as a lack of detail in the fire company's plans, saying the current level of information does not justify hiking the fire tax an additional 1.5 mills.

The department wants to build a 15,000-square-foot garage on about five acres of property on Route 19 in Jackson Township, near the Interstate 79 interchange. But a significant amount of the estimated $7.8 million project stems from having to develop the land itself, not just the garage.

“A large piece of that is going to be wetlands mitigation,” Jay Grinnell, supervisor chairman, said. “There's about an acre of usable property; there's four more acres that are wetland that's going to need mitigation.”

All four municipalities in the fire company's purview — Jackson and Lancaster townships as well as Harmony and Zelienople — currently have a 1.5 mill property tax to help fund the fire department. The fire district is asking them to double that, to 3 mills, the maximum municipalities are allowed to tax for the purpose of a fire department before it must become a referendum.

Grinnell said the value of 1 mill in Jackson Township — roughly $67,000 — far exceeds that of the other three municipalities.

He added that while he supports the department and wants to see it enter a new building, as it sold its current site in 2019, he is not comfortable hiking Jackson's property tax rate without a more solidified business plan.

“I'm all about building for the future, but you have to do it with some responsibility for the present,” he said. “I'm just not comfortable that they can substantiate what they want.”

Supervisor Alan Osterwise said he doesn't believe a 1.5-mill increase will be the end of the department's requests, especially with its current assumption of a 40-year mortgage with monthly payments in the tens of thousands of dollars.

“The issue is, it's a mill and a half this year; where's it going to end up?” he asked.

Because the township has to solidify its budget by the beginning of December, there is a narrow time frame to approve such a tax hike.