Three months ago the Orion Township fire department faced an emergency that affected everyone at the station.
In August, a proposal was rejected for a new four-year 3.85-mill fire and emergency medical services operating millage that would have generated almost $11 million in its first year.
The losing margin was 221 votes out of 11,869 ballots cast.
Township Supervisor Chris Barnett said ahead of the primary that if the fire millage and a police millage did not pass, the township would not be able to cover the costs out of their own operating budget. Both failed and he knew putting the proposals back on the general election ballot was a gamble.
A separate proposal for a new 3.85-mill fire and emergency medical services operating millage for four years, also beginning in December 2026 and expiring in December 2029 was turned down by a narrow margin in August, but residents turned out in November to approve a different proposal for the department.
photo courtesy OTFD
“But the risk of running a November ballot proposal is if it fails, you don’t have another chance to go back,” said Barnett. “In our case, we have an okay fund balance, but we would have run out of money in May. We would have had no police and fire in May.”
The township board approved two ballot proposals to keep their fire department.
The first was a four-year renewal for 2.9-mills, down from the 3.85-mill August request, would pay for basic department needs. The second was a separate 0.4-mill proposal to cover replacement of self-contained breathing apparatus equipment, turnout gear and staffing.
If passed, the August millage proposal would have stabilized staffing, accommodated increasing call volumes, upgraded two fire stations, established training grounds, addressed inflationary operating costs and provided more predictable long-term budgeting.
The new proposal just covered the basics.
“It was extremely tough because the guys needed everything that we asked for originally,” Chief John Penner said of the decision to pare down what to ask for on the ballot. “We quite literally needed to keep the lights on and the guys in the stations to be able to respond. So this was the decision we came to.”
The new proposals were expected to bring in $8.1 million instead of the nearly $11 million that was turned down in August.
Barnett and Penner had 12 weeks to convince voters to support funding the department, but the supervisor liked their chances.
“I felt as confident as I could feel about it, because we had done everything we could do,” said Barnett. “I went to every homeowners association group that would have me. We had 12 different informational meetings. We were trying to get the information out there any way we could.”
But Penner said morale had been affected and Barnett was hearing concerns from inside the department.
“I had real conversations with people that were sincerely asking if they should be looking for other jobs or communities to serve,” the supervisor said. “Our first responders, their jobs aren’t political. Their jobs are when the 911 tone comes in, they get in the ambulance, or they get in a fire truck, and they drive to danger, and that’s what they do every day.”
On election day, it was up to township residents and Barnett wanted to show them what was at stake.
“We had police and firemen, and board members, and myself at every precinct from 7:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. And I think that helped,” he said. “Residents seeing firemen, their families. One of my battalion chiefs had his two daughters out there, one of them is a baby, just holding a sign and telling people, ‘Thanks for coming out and voting.”
It helped.
The fire millage passed by a 30% margin, 13,906 yes votes to 6,250 no and the additional 0.4-mill proposal also passed by a 56.2% to 43.8% margin.
The police millage renewal for coverage through the Oakland County sheriff’s department also passed.
“Last night was the first good night’s sleep I’ve had since August,” Penner said, the day after the election.
“I don’t want to do it again anytime soon, but grateful to the community for understanding the importance and ultimately, coming through and supporting our team here,” said Barnett.
Several other communities had to put millage proposals back on the ballot and all but Clarkston approved them.
“I’m super grateful. And I talked to Anthony Bartolotta from Waterford, and Chuck Phyle in Independence (township), Jayson Rumball in Brandon (township) and texted with Rick Hamill from Highland (township) and we’re all feeling the same way,” said Barnett. “We are grateful that we can all continue to provide those services to our residents.”
Penner said voters supporting the department on Tuesday changed the attitude of his staff.
“Even the morale of the department, the morale of the guys is better,” said the chief. “They know that they’re stable now and not wondering what’s going to happen if it doesn’t pass and if they are going to have jobs tomorrow. They needed this to pass, so it was a huge morale booster for everybody.”
Penner said he is ready to get back to serving township residents.
“I guess the best word would be just relieved that we are stabilized and can provide the service that the community expects,” he said.