Dexter Wants to Talk Fire Services with Webster and Dexter Townships

Should the Dexter Area Fire Department (DAFD) look at new funding model? This is a question the city of Dexter wants to explore with Dexter and Webster Townships.

To move this discussion forward the city of Dexter sent a letter to both townships stating their hopes and intentions to explore different funding models for the DAFD. The fire department is a partnership between the city and two townships. In late May, the Dexter City Council adopted a resolution “to notify township partners of interest in exploring different funding models for fire services.”

In the letter, Dexter City Manager Justin Breyer said the “Dexter City Council is interested in engaging with representatives of Dexter Township and Webster Township to evaluate the current funding model for fire services and explore alternatives.”

The current funding model, according to the city of Dexter resolution on notifying the townships, said an Interlocal Agreement was established and in it the funding formula implemented assigns the cost of the DAFD solely based on the percentage of runs (emergency responses) in the prior year to each community. The agreement established that the DAFD Board, which has members from all three communities, holds the sole authority for approving the DAFD budget.

In the resolution the city of Dexter states the funding topic has been an ongoing question for it and has become even more so as costs have increased. The city of Dexter said it has experienced significant cost increases in its contracted fire service costs year-over-year with the city’s allocation of the costs doubling since fiscal year 2021-22. The city has seen increases greater than 19 percent each fiscal year for the last three fiscal years.

“The cost to the City of Dexter for contracted services with the DAFD is outpacing revenue growth in the City’s General Fund,” the resolution states. “The funding formula, combined with significant increases to the DAFD budget create challenges in the City’s budget process.”

The city wants to discuss this as a group outside of DAFD meetings.

“The City of Dexter, in the spirit of collaboration with its neighbors, wishes to continue in a shared fire service model, but with a revised funding model that controls costs and more equitably represents the population and value of property being protected within each of the communities,” the resolution states. “The City of Dexter desires to explore alternative funding models for the provision of fire services, such as, but not limited to an area wide millage backed authority or a modification to the funding allocation model.”

The plan is for each community to have representatives meet to discuss this further.