Clearwater Township residents voted not to approve a 25.5% hike in their fire levy for 2019.

 

About 30 people attended the annual meeting Tuesday evening to discuss future projects and pass the 2019 tax levies. The board of supervisors was proposing no change in the general fund ($84,000) or the road and bridge fund ($330,000).

 

But that wasn’t the case for the fire protection fund, where a budget increase by the Clearwater Fire Dept. had raised the fee for the city, Clearwater Twp. and Lynden Twp.

 

Under the contract that was approved about 10 years ago, two-thirds of the budget is divided based on the number of calls averaged over the previous three years.

 

The city averaged 52.41%. Clearwater Twp. had 24.13% and Lynden Twp. had 23.46%. The remaining one-third of the budget is split equally among the entities.

 

The issue for the township residents and supervisors was the big single-year increase. In 2018, the township is paying $58,931. With a fire department budget set at $299,544, that number jumps to $74,040 in 2019.

 

Fire Chief Ryan Pridgeon said part of the department budget increase is an attempt to build a capital fund to purchase some major equipment. He said Engine 12 is now 22 years old.

 

“It’s in desperate in need of replacement,” he said.

 

Cost estimates for a new truck were originally about $450,000.

 

“But when we were doing research, we found it could be as much as $725,000,” he said.

 

But township residents felt there shouldn’t be such a big hike in one year and discussed ways to either lower the amount or change the formula.

 

Supervisor Bill Langenbacher said representatives from both townships had met Clearwater City Administrator Kevin Kress and offered a 10% increase.

 

But since Monday’s city council meeting was cancelled due to a lack of a quorum, the council hadn’t discussed the issue yet.

 

Resident Abe Maier recommended going along with the board’s recommendation of a 10% increase and then sit down with the city and re-negotiate the contract.

 

“Let the board do what they’re elected to do and negotiate this and figure out a logical way to get out of this,” he said.

 

When it came time to vote, Clerk Jean Just said residents had a few options: set the levy for the 25.5% increase; set the levy for the board’s recommendation of a 10% increase, or choose a number somewhere in-between.

 

“We can go back and negotiate this,” she said. “But if they (city) don’t negotiate it at the meeting and we go less than $74,040, we have take money out of general revenue in order to make up those funds.”

 

Residents voted unanimously for the 10% increase, with the stipulation that the township attempts to re-negotiate the contract.

 

They also approved the general fund levy at $84,000, the road and bridge fund levy at $330,000 and a $2,000 allocation to the Clearwater Library.