Town comes to consensus to buy a new fire truck

Town of Belgium residents at Tuesday’s annual meeting agreed to fund their portion of a new pumper truck for the Belgium Fire Department.

The preferred financing option for the nearly $1 million machine, however, needs to be determined. Paying up front reduces the overall cost but causes a large short-term tax increase. Paying over time causes a larger overall bill with smaller annual levy increases.

The Fire Department wants to replace a 30-year-old pumper truck that is nearing the end of its life. Its model isn’t made anymore and the main computer board would cost $80,000 to replace, according to Fire Chief Pat Wester.

Refurbishing the truck would cost $500,000 and doesn’t address the engine or chassis.

The used market for a truck that fits Belgium’s needs is nearly nonexistent. Wester said he regularly checks online to no avail.

The truck’s cost would depend on when the town and village of Belgium would pay for it.

The village has been saving money and has enough to pay for its share of the truck in its budget. Its Finance and Personnel Committee was to meet Wednesday night to recommend one of three funding options.

The town has not been saving money, albeit towns’ financial frameworks generally allow for less disposable income than that of villages and cities. Supr. Bill Janeshek said the town had saved money years ago for fire trucks but the total never made a significant dent in the cost.

The town has also not kept its residents updated on the Fire Department’s apparatus replacement schedule. Wester had hoped to get approval to buy the truck at a joint meeting with the department and village and town boards in February, but the town wasn’t ready because its constituents weren’t aware of the purchase.

On Tuesday, Wester presented the need for the truck and the purchase plan to a room full of town residents.

One option is to pay for the town’s share  up front that would save nearly $50,000 on the overall cost. It would carry a one-year levy increase of $820 on a $500,000 home, Chairman Tom Winker said.

Resident Tom Petersen said the one-year option was what was done the last time the department bought a truck, and the town didn’t return the levy to its previous level the next year, although he didn’t have specific numbers.

Town resident Dan Large, a member of the Northern Ozaukee School Board, said it’s not a good idea to “handcuff” the Town Board and force the levy to that level since “We don’t know what’s going to come up in the next year.”

Winker presented borrowing figures for a five-year loan. The interest cost would total nearly $91,000 but would require smaller levy increases each year than paying for it all at once.

He has expressed concern over residents who may live in $1 million homes but are on fixed incomes with money that only covers groceries, taxes and medicine expenses.

Janeshek shared those concerns.

“It’s a big chunk to tackle at one time,” he said.

Supr. Tom Bichler initially said he wanted to pay the truck off in one year or borrow the money for three years and pay it off early.

Wester said the cost will increase on May 16. A joint meeting of the department and town and village boards is set for 7 p.m. Monday at the firehouse to make a final decision on buying the truck and how to pay for it.

It would take about three years to build and equip the new truck, Wester said.

Buying a new truck, he said, would give the department the option down the line to drop from three pumpers to two.

The town will pay nearly 53% of the truck and the village 47%. The breakdown is based on 2024 property values.

Several residents praised the department’s volunteers, many of whom stood in the back of the room during the 90-minute meeting, and the majority who spoke favored borrowing the money over time rather than taking a big one-year tax hit. No vote was taken.

Another levy increase to decide

Residents on Tuesday didn’t vote on the 24/7 paramedic-level medical service joint agreement with the villages of Fredonia and Belgium and the Town of Fredonia. That will be done at November’s annual budget hearing.

The estimated levy increase is about $100,000 per year. The three other municipalities already approved their share of costs for the program, which is designed to shorten response times for paramedic calls and offer 24/7 service amid a shrinking pool of volunteers.

Ozaukee County provided money from federal funds for the program, but it has run out and the group is on its own for funding.

Winker chairs the joint committee and said he fought hard for county money for the northern portion of the county.

Winker reminded everyone that the town has the lowest taxes of the 32 municipalities in the county.

“The Town of Belgium has a history of being very frugal. I didn’t want to say cheap — frugal — with our taxpayers’ money,” he said.