Citizens of Traverse City
The COFAC committee (comprised of 27 citizens and/or business owners) has made recommendations to the City Commission that could possibly reduce taxes.
Several recommendations involve reducing staffing for the Traverse City Fire Department. The initial recommendation would result in the elimination of 9 personnel. If Fire Department staffing is reduced by 9 Firefighters, the average residential taxpayer will save approximately $80 per year. This is less than $9 per Firefighter per year.
The final goal recommended by COFAC would result in losing 17 of the 30 positions currently budgeted by the Fire Department. Staffing would consist of 4 Firefighters per day plus the Fire Chief.
The Traverse City Fire Department is currently staffed below the National Standards for Fire Departments.
Play video to see what happened April 2009 in Flint,MI when they cut Firefighters.
These recommendations will result in a Reduction in Life Safety and reduce or eliminate many services for the citizens and visitors of Traverse City.
The reductions may also raise fire insurance rates for property owners.
Please contact your city commissioners to voice your opinion. Links for their emails can be found on our website.
Commissioner's emails
Letters to the editor for the Record Eagle can be mailed to:
120 W. Front St. PO Box 632, Traverse City, 49684 Attn: Letters to the Editor
If you would like to contact us, please call Mike Onthank (633-5619) or Marco Marcantoni (631-7424)
Thank you for your support!
Traverse City Firefighters
“Proud to serve”Chart is of comparable cities used by COFAC
| Cities |
Population |
SEV |
SEV
Per Capta
|
Millage Rate
City Portion
|
Millage Rate
Total
|
| Adrian |
21,574
|
$530,211,400
|
$24,576
|
15,6912
|
38.9282
|
Alpena
|
11,304
|
$287,806,100 |
$25,460
|
18.3407
|
36.7843
|
Cadillac
|
10,313
|
$307,006,700
|
$29,768 |
13.9473 |
N/A
|
| Owosso |
15,388
|
$344,865,450 |
$22,411
|
N/A
|
34.8581 |
Sault St
Marie
|
14,005 |
$310,431,849
|
$22,165
|
21.1823
|
38.6839 |
Average
|
14,517
|
$356,064,300
|
$24,876 |
17.2903 |
37.3136 |
Traverse City
|
14,500
|
$1,013,311,187 |
$69,883
|
13.1765
|
36.0345 |
Traverse City has a SEV ( State Equalized Value) that is almost three times the average of the cities used by COFAC committee. This means we are responsible for protecting property three times more expensive to replace if lost by fire.
The millage rate paid by the citizens of Traverse City is over 4 mils less than the average paid by the residents of the cities used by the COFAC committee.
**One "mill" represents one dollar of tax on every thousand dollars of taxable property value.