Delhi Township Fire Department

As many of you may recall the Fire Department asked for a 5 year tax levy in the spring of 2005. I am happy to report that through responsible budgeting and attentive fiscal responsibility the Fire Department rests on sound financial ground. It is evident through watchful observance of account balances that the Fire Department will be able to extend the life of the current levy.

Since levy revenue is designed to stay flat over the life of the tax initiative it is imperative for administrations to build a savings account, if you will, in the front of the cycle to be drawn upon in the latter half of the cycle. While the fire department is well past the half way point of the cycle we are just now beginning to withdraw from balances created in the early years of the levy. The slower we draw on those reserves, the longer the time before a request to the residents to increase funding.

When developing the annual budget we always begin with the known numbers. Those are wages, pensions, benefits, and other predictable expenses. The last numbers to be budgeted are discretionary numbers. Some of these discretionary funds include station projects, training aids, and cyclical replacement of tools and equipment. Once these numbers are entered, we examine the bottom line and determine if additional adjustments need to be made to move within a reasonable vicinity of our budgetary projections.

The budget process is a 3 month chronicle that is laden with research, review, and calculated predictability of where certain expenses may be in the upcoming budget year. We review our budget internally and then do an informal review with the Administrator. The Financial Advisory Board (FAB) next reviews the budget and gives input and direction if areas of appropriation requests are not in line with budget forecasting set at the beginning of the levy cycle. The budget is then formally presented to the Board of Trustees during their public examination of the document. Final adjustments are made and the final product submitted for approval by resolution in late December. Each department undergoes a formal quarterly FAB examination of the budgets progress in the budget year.

Following the leadership change in the fire department in 2007 we have managed to decrease expenditures from the 2007 level for two consecutive years, holding the spending flat. While I cannot promise this into the future it is my goal to keep expenses at a controlled rate of increase to assure maximum efficiency for your tax dollars.

The Fire Department currently operates on numerous levies voted on through the years, with a cumulative voted (nominal) Millage of 10.45. With inflation and changes in real estate values over the years the value of the millage is approximately 6 mills (effective). 1 Mill is equal to 1/10 of 1% of assessed valuation. Millage is adjusted by the County Auditor to assure that revenue from a levy remains flat over the life of the levy.

Example:

$500,000,000 valuation (set by Auditors office) X 1/10 = $50,000,000 X .01= 500,000 X 6 mills= $3,000,000 approximate gross tax generated.

If the voted millage (nominal) amount were used instead of the effective rate the levies would produce approximately $5,225,000.

Yours in Service,

William J. Zoz,
Fire Chief