The City of Hillsdale will hold a special election May 7 to vote on a millage proposal which would provide funds for equipment and trucks that need repair for the city’s fire department.
Over the next 10 years, the fire department will need to purchase or repair equipment for the sake of efficiency and safety, according to Fire and Police Chief Scott Hephner. Some of the major issues are expiring air tanks, old fire engines, and the station’s commercial washing machine. Hephner has put together a chart of what items the station needs to purchase and when within the next 10 years. The total costs over that period will come to just under one and a half million.
According to Hephner, however, even the funds proposed for the initial proposal will fall short by about $250,000. With nowhere else to turn, he said the department is turning to a millage.
“We did not just say, ‘We need a bunch of money; let’s get the public to pay for it,’” he said. “We’ve taken all the other steps. We’ve cut our fleet down from five to four, and we’ve come up with a working business model.”
As far as the millage itself, Hephner and and Sharp both emphasized that the ballot language will limit the collected funds to the equipment that needs to be replaced.
“The millage says exactly what it’s for. It’s not for ‘enhancements,’” Sharp said. “It is for this equipment only. It cannot go anywhere else.”
When it comes to the millage’s effect on taxpayers, Hephner said $1 million for the city will come to about $127,000 a year.
“People ask what that’s going to cost them,” Hephner said. “If your home value is $100,000 and your tax value is 50,000, this $1 million would cost $50 more each year.”
When he took over as chief at the fire department, Hephner said he slowly discovered just how many things needed to be replaced and updated. One of the truck’s pumps, for instance, was not safe to use, he said. The year after he took over, the station’s 34-year-old ladder truck failed inspection due to some major issues, and those cost at least $1 million, according to Hephner.
In the last couple of years, according to City Manager David Mackie, had to replace two expensive firetrucks unexpectedly. To cover that, he said in an email, money had to be taken from another city fund for one truck, while the city had to use money intended for road repairs on the other truck.
“Having been creative on these last two fire truck purchases, the City Council asked the Public Safety Committee to look at options to properly plan for these type of purchases in the future,” he said.
The committee, Mackie said, decided it would be best to have Hillsdale residents vote on the best solution. Councilman Bruce Sharp said the Public Safety Committee has considered every other means for funding.
“I don’t like asking for a millage, but I want to make sure we have an adequate and good fire department,” Sharp said. “Public safety is the no. 1 thing in Hillsdale, along with the roads. We want to take care of both.”
Sharp said everything Hephner wants to replace over the next 10 years are all needs, not wants.
“That’s why we’re coming to the taxpayers,” Sharp said. “We’ve got to find a way to fund the department.”
Looking for a sustainable way to keep funding the station is a primary concern for Hephner as chief.
“From a business standpoint, waiting until your major equipment goes into catastrophic failure before replacing it is not a good business model,” he said. “A lot of equipment has expiration dates, and you aren’t legally allowed to use it after that.”
Such is the case with the air tanks for the firefighters. According to Hephner, all of the station’s air tanks were purchased on the same day, and thus will expire on the same day. The tanks must be tested four times a year, he said. Twice a year, they send in samples, and the other two times, a company comes in to test the equipment.
“The air in the tank has to be high quality breathing air,” Hephner said. “The company tells us we need to replace that equipment. It’s on borrowed time. We can’t let that go into catastrophic failure.”
Beyond the tanks — which cost around $6,000, Hephner said — even the washing and drying machines are breaking down. When going into a burning building, Hephner and Sharp both said firefighters often get carcinogens on their clothing, but nothing can be washed in a public laundromat or a private home; the station requires a commercial washing machine.
“Ours was built in 1984,” Hephner said. “There’s as much suds and water on the floor as in the machine.”
When it comes to drying, not having a commercial machine for that purpose is also hurting the station’s efficiency, he said. Currently, firefighters are having to hang dry their equipment, which takes three to four days to dry, he said, whereas a professional-level rack and blower system could do it in three to four hours, while also avoiding mildew and bacteria build up.
As far as the millage itself, Hephner and and Sharp both emphasized that the ballot language will limit the collected funds to the equipment that needs to be replaced.
Mayor Adam Stockford, who is not serving on the Public Safety Committee, said in an email that “if anyone in the city deserves a millage increase, it’s the fire department.”
“Their current situation is unsustainable,” he said. “No matter what happens, the fire department needs our support and they have it. While I didn’t vote for this at the council table I’m committed to finding the money however we have to.”
Sharp hopes voters will understand this millage is a last-resort option for the city’s safety.
“To keep the station up to speed, this is what we need to do,” he said. “We’re not doing this lightly.”