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Printer-Friendly ModeMill will likely pass to secure firefighters' funding
November 19, 2007 —
Kochville Township's Board of Trustees recently convened at a special hearing on Nov. 12th regarding a possible special assessment of funding for the Kochville Fire Department.
This hearing took place at the Kochville Tonwship Hall. The board, after deliberating on the matter with present Kochville residents, eventually decided to assess a one half mil increase to the KFD for the 2008 fiscal year.
Township Supervisor Patricia Bourdow said this mil increase will not require a massive increase on Kochville property owner's taxes.
"For a house that has an assessed value of $100,000, the tax comes out to about $25 for the year," Bourdow said.
A special committee of the KFD had originally proposed a whole mil increase as well as a ten year plan to counteract the possible shortfalls the department may face due to funding deficits. This proposal, which they presented to the board of trustees during an Oct. 16th meeting, was met with hesitance by some of the board members. The committee's findings were tabled for the Nov. 12th hearing.
Bourdow said that although the KFD responds to very few fire emergencies inside Kochville Township, many of the firefighter volunteers are also trained paramedics who respond to medical emergencies and car crashes through out Kochville Township, including SVSU. However, most of the resources of the KFD are used for businesses of Kochville, which includes Wal-Mart and Meijer.
"The residents use a small percentage of the service," Bourdow said.
Since the FDK is only receiving a renewable special assessment for a one half mil increase, they will have to propose this every year before the Kochville Board of Trustees if they want it to continue. However, if they find this still isn't enough to meet their budget problem, they can attempt to pass their ten year plan as a permanent millage, meaning they would need the consent of the Kochville voters.
Bourdow said that the one half mil should be adequate for the needs of the fire department, although she expressed interest in deliberating on the FDK's proposal further.
"We told them we would look at this for one year," Bourdow said. "And so they may come back with other options."