Hazel Park and Eastpointe to
Vote on Millage for Fire Authority Feb 24
(Crystal A. Proxmire, Feb. 22, 2015)
Tough times call for creative solutions, and Hazel Park City Manager Ed Klobucher has come up with an innovative way to secure new funding, without having to cut fire services. The solution will require a unique partnership with the City of Eastpointe and a vote of the people.
The election will take place Feb. 24, 2015 and voters in Hazel Park are being asked to approve 14 mils, but the city would then reduce the current millage, which is 9.8 mill, down to 2.8 mills, for a total of 14 mills. Eastpointe voters are also being asked to approve a millage of their own. Then they would then form a collaborative authority called the South Macomb Oakland Regional Services Authority (SMORSA). The authority would collect the taxes and redistribute the funds to each city.
The relationship is purely financial. They main function is to collect taxes, and they may be able to save money on purchasing. But apart from that their operations will be separate. “Hazel Park Fire Trucks will not be driving through Warren to put out fires in Eastpointe. Eastpointe Firefighters will not be coming here,” Klobucher said.
Hazel Park has tried forming partnerships and authorities with other cities, but the challenge has been find a city with similar funding capabilities. “We looked at Ferndale, but we have to be realistic. A mill in Hazel Park is about $155,000, but a mill in Ferndale is $400,000. If Ferndale wanted to subsidize Hazel Park, that would be great, but they don’t want to do that. We’re just not in the same place financially.”
Because of state laws that limit how much a city can raise taxes, creating an authority would enable the cities to collect more funds than trying to do it on their own.
The millage would cost the average homeowner 38 cents per day, or about $11.40 per month and would ensure that the fire department could remain sustainable.
The ballot language is as follows:
“Shall the Authority levy up to 14 mills on the taxable value of all real property within the taxable limits of the Authority for the purposes of funding emergency services for a period of twenty years, from 2015 through 2035 inclusive, to fund fire services for the City of Hazel Park, which levy would collect estimated revenues of $2,321,221.98 in the first year, if approved and levied?”
“This millage is critically important for the future of Hazel Park,” Klobucher stressed.