I've been a trustee and now chairman of our Fire/Rescue Command Board for 20 years and one year respectively. Our on-call Fire Department serves two townships and a small municipality.
The Fire Command Board consists of 2 members appointed by each government unit and one at-large member appointed by the fire board trustees. Total of 7.
Twenty years ago, we created the fire district as outlined by state statute. We had the officers prepare a twenty year plan outlining what equipment was needed, when it needed to be replaced, how much would it cost (best guess), would we need a new engine house and when and a best guess as to cost. What would we need in the way of training and how would that evolve. We required them to provide the information in 90 days. (edited to add: The volunteer fire department existed prior to this, but had no funding other than voluntary money from the three governments and charges to people who called the FD. We had a really old pumper, a fairly new pumper and a really old farm manure hauler that had been converted as a water tanker and a lot of old hand me down equipment, and couple of stalls in the old city hall)
Once we had the info, we calculated the millage needed to assess taxpayers from each municipality to fund the line items that we needed to operate in the present year and to budget yearly for the future per the 20 year plan. We presented the plan to the municipalities along with a budget for the first year and an operating agreement in which the municipalities delegated to the Fire Command Board a good deal of autonomy.
To make a long story short, over the last 20 years per the plan, we put mutual aid agreements in place with surrounding fire departments, purchased a new pumper, a grass fire truck, a tanker, a small truck w/pump to obtain water from creeks, lakes etc to fill the tanker, a river/lake rescue boat, a multipurpose rescue truck with a lighting system for accident and fire scenes, including command center capability and accident scene rescue equipment such as the Jaws of Life, a new 6 bay engine house and meeting area, a training trailer and all sorts of small equipment such as turnout gear, ropes, oxygen/breathing systems and refill equipment, generators etc etc etc.
We paid cash each time we needed an item, large or small. We have no debt whatsoever, $400,000.00 in the bank as the plan continues to evolve with the completion of a new 10 year plan. We are in the process of planning the combining of the First Responder EMT (which is now a separate voluntary unpaid group that raises money by donation) into the Fire Department to be included in our assessment district.
We anticipate we can do that with only a 2/10 of a mill increase in the assessment.
We have been doing this with an assessment that started out at 1.4 mills twenty years ago. That millage has decreased every year since except for 3 years, two of which stayed the same and one where it increased 1/10 of a mill. It stands at 0.92 mills now.
This is how government should work. We have no one to blame but ourselves for the situation we are in, in our cities, states and the federal government. All that needs to be done is to elect and appoint the proper people. To do that, our kids need to be schooled properly in government and sociology and history. And we need to become involved and end the "reign" of arrogant, self centered, anti American bastards that we have put in charge. We need to start now and by next November be prepared to vote the bastards out and tell those who we replace them with that their terms will be short if they continue to betray us. It starts at the local level and trickles up. So get busy, dammit.
End of story and rant.
