Passing or not passing the public safety millages in Unadilla will come with a price tag

by Mary Jo David

Unadilla Township has public safety renewals (with additions) on the Aug. 5 Special Election ballot—one for the Fire Department and one for the Police Department. Passing these millages comes with a price tag, but so does not passing the millages.

The Unadilla Township Fire Department is asking that the existing levy of 1.3955 ($1.3955 per each $1,000 of taxable value) for its fire department be renewed with an additional .50 new millage to be added for a total of 1.8955 mills for ten years.

TheUnadilla Township Police Department is requesting renewal of its existing levy of 2.3259  ($2.3259  per each $1,000 of taxable value) for its police department with an additional .50 new millage to be added for a total of 2.8259 mills for ten years.

The implications of these millages

Unadilla Township encompasses almost 35 square miles of property, and it’s where just under 4,000 residents call “home.” If the millage proposals for fire and police pass, these departments would continue to operate as they are now, with additional monies applied to operating expenses and equipping the police, firefighters, and EMTs who respond to Unadilla Township’s public safety emergencies. 

If the current Police and/or Fire Millage Proposals do not pass, the affected budget(s) would be solely dependent on the Unadilla Township’s General Fund. This would severely limit the amount available to police and fire and would negatively affect other township expenses that currently rely on the General Fund.

The Unadilla Township Police Department is staffed about 20 hours per day, with the days and times varying. Currently, Unadilla Township residents who require police assistance experience response times of 2 to 5 minutes if officers are on duty and responding from base. The response time may be longer if officers are responding from another call in the township. When there are no UTPD officers on duty, response times can be notably longer as police calls are dispatched to Michigan State Police and/or the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office. It is likely, if the Police Millage Proposal does not pass, township residents could experience these longer response times more frequently as they would have to rely more on these other law enforcement agencies for coverage.

The Unadilla Township Fire Department has one full-time firefighter in house during the day, Mondays through Thursdays; all others are “paid on-call volunteers.” Between them, UTFD covers Unadilla Township fire emergencies 24/7. Township residents who require fire assistance experience response times of anywhere from 6 to 20 minutes, depending on whether the call comes in during a weekday, weekend, or at night. If the Fire Millage Proposal does not pass, response times could be longer if the UTFD cannot afford to pay for training and outfitting enough volunteers and purchasing the specialized vehicles and equipment required for fighting fires.

Both UTFD and UTPD rely on millage monies to pay for salaries/on-call reimbursements, training, certifications, updated patrol/fire vehicles, upgraded technology, first-aid equipment, personal protective equipment, specialty tools, building/office maintenance, communications equipment, equipment and vehicle maintenance, and so much more.

Residents of the township can expect the obvious—if millages don’t pass, budgets will be affected, making it difficult to cover everyday operating expenses.

What residents don’t always see are some of the behind-the-scenes benefits of maintaining viable fire and police agencies in the township. 

“The Michigan State Police and Livingston County Sheriffs are excellent agencies, but they each cover a much larger area,” Sgt. Nan Gelman of the UTPD said. “Residents are accustomed to our local police department going the extra mile to put affected residents in touch with local agencies that can help them after we deal with the initial emergency,”

Chief Dave Russell has led the UTPS since 2013 and knows the value of a small-town police department. “Our community having its own police department provides our residents with a group of officers that are invested, know their specific needs and care about the families that make up this community. Because we are right here, we can be more accountable and accessible to our residents, qualities an outside agency just can’t provide.”

Home invasions, emergency medical incidents, vehicle accidents, stolen vehicles, property checks, lost animals, mental health crises, hazardous materials incidents—all of these require a response by the Unadilla Township Police Department, Fire Department, or both.

“Minutes seem like hours when you’re at home and have to call 911 for a medical emergency,” said one Unadilla Township resident. “The relief I felt when police and fire got there is not something I can even describe.”

Other activities are not required, yet our Unadilla Township police and/or fire are there. Maybe it’s attending a funeral for a resident who died alone or walking the fields to find a resident suffering from dementia, or even a lost pet.

“It’s a blessing to live in a small community,” UTFD Fire Chief Wendy Hause observed. She and her husband have lived in Gregory, Mich., for 30 years. “I like to think our township residents appreciate the job we’re doing taking care of the community, whether it’s on a call or after.”

But Hause and Gelman both emphasized that small-town responsiveness comes with a price, and it’s the millages that are making it possible for them, not just meet their responsibilities, but to go beyond the call of duty.

Note: A Dust Control and Road Improvement millage proposal is also on the Unadilla Township ballot for the Aug. 5 Special Election.