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Property owners in the Lansing Fire District will pay just under an additional two cents per $1,000 of property valuation.  The $1,398,949 budget was passed Tuesday after a public hearing at Lansing Central Station.  $1,238,442 of that will be raised by taxes.  The tax rate will be $0.918, up from $0.90 last year.

"This actually falls under the tax cap," said District Treasurer George Gesslein.  "We get credit because we dropped our rate about 4% last year.  We're within $3,000 of the tax cap."

Gesslein says that the rising cost of fire trucks is much higher than projected years ago, increasing by over 6% per year.  Working from a 20 year equipment replacement plan, he said that the district will need to replace its heavy rescue vehicle in two years at an estimated $1 million or more.  In 2018 a new tanker is expected to cost $900,000.  A second tanker is scheduled to be replaced in 2020 for $1 million, and a third in 2021 for more than that.  The biggest is the ladder truck, which is scheduled to be replaced in 2024 at an estimated cost of $2 million.

"We had anticipated certain increases in assessed value and things of that nature," he said.  "They haven't happened.  As a means of balancing the budget in the long term, it's a small increase, but it should keep us from having to make any big increases in the future.  Everything costs money."

But Gesslein noted that by projecting these expenses and adding a little to reserves each year the Fire District has remained debt-free, saving taxpayer dollars that otherwise would have paid interest.

Fire district taxes are levied in January on the same tax bill as town and county taxes.


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