The Dexter Leader
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Scio looking for fire department funds
By Sean Dalton, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: July 3, 2008
Scio Township residents will have an opportunity to react to the township Board of Trustees' decision to begin preparations for a public safety millage.
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The board voted 5-to-2 to establish a Special Assessment District that would exclude Dexter Village from the millage taxing jurisdiction.
The two votes against were made by Trustee Jean King and Township Clerk Kathy Knol.
Residents could be asked whether they want to pay a fixed amount of $1.2 million or .9 mills on real property in the township.
According to township officials, a .9 millage would raise $1,010,775 based on the existing State Equalized Value of property in the township. It would drop to $980,451 in 2010 if an estimated 3 percent fall in SEV's comes to pass.
The question of what to do about public safety, covering both police and fire services, in the township has been an ongoing concern. The Scio Township Public Safety Study Committee laid out a number of options in March.
The police options were eight Washtenaw County sheriff deputies added to the current five for $640,000 on top of the $620,000 that the township is paying for its current service level, or $880,000 more for 10 sheriffs.
For fire service, the committee recommended increasing the number of full-time firefighters from three to six. The department would remain with a full-time fire chief and part- time fire marshall. The staff increase would cost $500,000 to 600,000 with some equipment upgrades included.
While at this point the district is the only part of the millage that last week's vote has moved the township to put into a resolution, the public hearing will be a chance to discuss exactly how much and the specific level of service that the millage will pay for.
The district was established based on the millage being for fire service only.
Township Clerk Kathy Knol, who is not seeking reelection next year, thought the process was too rushed.
"To list a resolution of this significance, a board should be given more time to review it and in this case the resolution was handed out at the board table (at the same meeting that the vote was taken)," Knol said. "I would have been more comfortable with the resolution if we had a week to review it and make changes."
Knol said that she voted against the district due to lack of confidence in the fire department's management.
"My concern is about putting more money into an organization that has serious administrative problems," she said.
Knol also said that the township could tap a $1.2 million fund that is currently set aside for capital improvements. The money has accrued due to savings from cuts to the fire department and cuts to the township's contract with the Washtenaw County Sheriffs, according to township officials
Township Supervisor Charlie Nielsen said that it would be unwise to fund an increase in fire service, an ongoing expense, with a fund that is receiving no additional revenue.
"That money is intended to replace something like a fire truck or handle other unforeseen expenses," Nielsen said. "It's not good finance to fund an ongoing expense with a fund that has no ongoing income, especially when you're funding people's jobs."
He speculated that the fund would be gone in a year.
Whether the proposed millage alone is even enough to meet the needs of the fire department will be a topic for the public hearing. The committee's Maureen Sloan had previously warned that falling property values would mean setting the millage higher which would guarantee more breathing room as SEV's dropped. One number that she mentioned back in march was 1.5 mills.
Nielsen said that he would like to see if voters will go for any option to solve the weaknesses in public safety that the committee perceived in their report.
"The feedback that we've gotten from other municipalities is that you get something voted on to considerably improve the situation and you start from there," Nielsen said. "The predominant thought is that it would have a better chance of passing at less than one mill."
The public hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m. on June 23 at Scio Township Hall, 827 N. Zeeb Road.
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