By Liz Oakes
The Cincinnati Enquirer

MOUNT HEALTHY - A month after the fire chief resigned, citing safety concerns over proposed job cuts, the city is preparing to place a 5-mill fire levy on the August ballot.

The fire and emergency medical services levy would cost the owner of a $100,000 home $175 a year in property taxes.

The tax would replace a 2-mill fire levy that expires this year and generate about $420,000 annually, said Mayor George Rouse.

City Council is expected to adopt a resolution at its meeting at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday announcing the levy plans.

"It will provide some much-needed protection at night," Rouse said of the larger levy.

Department runs are up this year, officials say, and proposed housing for seniors on Compton Road could add more.

"The problem is we have volunteers in the evening, but it's hard to get volunteers and we don't have enough," Rouse said. "The same half-dozen people are covering everything at night, and they get a little worn out."

"We're looking for staffing around the clock," said Assistant Fire Chief Tim Doerger.

Rouse appointed Steve Lawson, the city's only full-time fireman, last week to head the department after Chief Tom Harris, a volunteer, stepped down last month.

In his resignation letter dated March 6, Harris complained that dropping staffing from four to three part-timers during the day, which officials were considering, could jeopardize lives.

Besides Lawson, the 26-person department includes 11 part-timers who share 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. shifts, and 14 volunteers who are on call evenings and weekends.

The city would like to have four part-timers working at night, Rouse said.

If the levy doesn't pass, "we'll be in a world of hurt," the mayor said. "We could conceivably lose some of our daytime part-timers."

E-mail loakes@enquirer.com