News Photo by Steve Schulwitz Alpena Township firefighter Scott Waterson inspects a water nozzle that attaches to a fire hose while at work Wednesday. The township could seek another tax increase to help fund its fire department.

ALPENA — Alpena Township residents could be paying more in taxes to support its fire department.

The township could seek a six-year, 3 mill tax increase – on top of the 1.5 mills property owners pay now – if the full Board of Trustees signs off on the ballot proposal at its April 12 meeting.

If the new millage passes, owners of a $100,000 house would pay an additional $150 a year, for a total of $225 a year when the new tax and old tax are added together.

Township residents who have a house valued at $100,000 also pay $32.50 a year for a 0.65-mill – passed in November 2018 – which was used for vehicles. That tax sunsets at the end of the year.

At Wednesday’s fire committee meeting, the trustees reviewed the ballot language that could go before voters during the August primary election.

Committee Chairman Steve Lappan said another tax is needed because the current one doesn’t provide enough revenue to cover the cost of the department’s operations, and leaves little, if any, to purchase needed equipment.

Lappan said the township didn’t seek enough money in 2018 when the 10-year, 1.5 mills tax was approved by voters. He said the reality of the situation is, more tax revenue is needed to rebuild the fire department and to overcome staffing and funding issues.

“We all know that number is simply inadequate, period,” Lappan said. “There is no other way to say it. Our general fund loses significant money, which impacts several other things, like roads, to pay for the department. We are robbing Peter to pay Paul.”

Lappan said the new tax will generate about $1.7 million in revenue for the department, which will cover operations and allow the township to begin saving money for large projects like building a pair of new stations. He said people don’t realize how poor the condition of the stations are and planning for their replacement is the responsible thing to do.

Lappan said the old township south station is already an issue. He said to get the tanker truck in, it must be full of water to get into the garage. If it is not full of water, Lappan said, it is too tall to get into the building. Rehabilitating the garage door area is also not possible because of the poor condition of the rest of the structure.

Lappan said if the station isn’t replaced soon, the township will have more issues in the not too distant future.

“When we go to purchase new trucks, they will have to be custom made to get them in,” he said. “This millage will allow us to have some seed money for the future, and not just pay the bills.”

Trustee Norm Poli questioned whether 3 mills is enough because of the escalating costs of labor, materials, and commodities. He said when the people spoke up in support of saving the township fire department, rather than entering into a contract with the Alpena Fire Department for services, they knew it would come with a cost.

“The people said they want what they had before and we are trying to give them what they want,” Poli said. “But in order to do that, we have to come up with what it is going to cost them to be able to do it. If this is what you want, this is what it is going to cost. If you don’t want to pay that, then we have to go to plan B.”

Last year the township considered hiring the city to handle emergency response services because of a severe staffing shortage at the township department. There was a significant amount of public outcry against the move and ultimately the township board voted to scrap the plan with the city.

The township would have paid the city $400,000 a year and, after three years, a 2% increase of that payment would have kicked in until it hit a $475,000 cap.

Township officials forecast it will cost more than $800,000 a year to man, operate, and equip both of the township’s two fire stations without any help from the city.

That means the balance of the money needed to fund the department comes at the expense of road projects and other township needs, Lappan said.

Over the last handful of months, more employees have been hired into the department, but Township Fire Chief Mark Hansen said to properly staff the department more funding is needed.

The plan B Poli speaks of could include reconsidering utilizing Alpena’s fire department, if the millage fails.

Lappan, wasn’t so quick to say seeking help from the city would be in the cards again if the tax proposal fails.

“We would have to come up with another option, but I don’t have a crystal ball,” he said. “But the board has spoken and right now we are trying to give the people what they want, but that comes with a cost.”

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