Auburn Hills city council‘s Monday study session will focus on whether the city needs a new fire millage.
City manager Tom Tanghe, with the city’s finance director, Michelle Schulz, and fire department leaders will present a detailed report showing the council options for fixing an anticipated deficit.
The city’s existing 2.5 mill fire millage has been shaved by Headlee to 2.49 mills but provides close to $5 million for the 2026 budget. The fire department’s 2026 projected budget is nearly $7.26 million. Some of the gap is filled with grants, fees for services, licenses and permits, but the budget shows a deficit of at least $544,314. The city’s fiscal year is Jan. 1 through Dec. 31.
Financial projections show a deficit widening: The city’s 2026 budget report states that over the next five years, the city will need at least $5 million from general fund reserves to subsidize the fire/EMS.
“Let me be clear. This city council has not committed to anything as of this writing,” Tanghe told The Oakland Press Monday, adding that he can’t predict whether the council would approve any of the suggestions for a millage increase.
During the study session, Tanghe will present five scenarios for increasing the current 2.5 millage rate from between one and two mills. Tanghe said a one-mill increase is a short-term, unsustainable solution.
No decisions are made during a study session, but the council could add the topic of a fire millage to the regular meeting agenda.
If the board agrees an increase is needed, the question will go before voters later this year, Tanghe said.
The original 2.5 mills set in 1983 residents paid for fire services was eroded by Headlee rollbacks to 1.76 mills. In 2016 voters restored the rate to 2.5, Tanghe said.
The economy and the cost for fire and emergency services has radically changed since 2016, he said. A city ambulance purchased in 2016 for about $200,000 will cost more than $400,000 to replace, he said, while the price of a fire-department ladder truck”is easily $1.5 million,”
The city’s population between 2020 and this year has increased by about 25%, to more than 26,000 residents. Firefighters are responding to 30% more calls for service, he said, because the number of visitors has also risen, with more people visiting shops at the Great Lakes Crossing Outlets and Top Golf among other businesses. Firefighters were dispatched to nearly 3,600 calls in 2020, but just over 4,600 in 2025.
Tanghe said the new millage he’s proposing will also be considered a permanent millage.
“Fire services are perpetual, as are the millages to support those services,” he said, adding that since the 2016 Headlee override election, the city hasn’t asked voters for any other fire funding.
The council’s study session is 5:30 p.m. Jan. 5, in the administrative conference room at city hall, 1827 N. Squirrel Road in Auburn Hills, followed by the regular council meeting at 7 p.m. in the council chambers. Both meetings are open to the public.