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5/10/2007
I gave my $100 at the fire station
Last week Grand Chute was grappling with their needed $3.5M fire station. Apparently the Town Board was talking about the realities of getting this thing funded. This is in a budget that typically contains $9 – 10M of capital spending annually. Any way you look at it, $3.5M is a big chunk of change for even the state’s largest town. So Supervisor Travis Thyssen floats a trial balloon – why don’t we seek donations to build this fire station?
What??? I guess he was really serious. (Surely, he meant well.) So the town is scurrying around looking into what they’d have to do to operate as (or to set up) a non-profit entity that could accept such charitable donations. (I’m assuming such generous folks as would contribute to a fire engine’s domicile would need be enticed by the tax deductibility of their donation.)
So, I’m just barely getting over this bit of interest when I read in Friday’s paper that somebody in the Post-Crescent’s editorial white castle (or is it ivory tower?) is advocating building a fire station with donations – so as to be a lesser burden on the property taxpayer!
Unbelievable.
Listen. Here’s the cold, hard facts. Fire protection is needed in a community. The community decides what level of fire protection they want. Then they figure out how they’re going to pay for the needed buildings, the equipment, and, very importantly, the personnel. You cannot sugarcoat a government service by getting donations. You cannot pretend you’re concerned about spending by thinking taxpayers (taxpayers!!!) are going to come to bail out your capital budget.
Yes, you can figure out a way to perhaps levy an impact fee of some kind. You can decide to borrow the needed funds over three hears or 30 years. You can build a Cadillac or you can build a Chevy. You can opt for 4-minute average response times or 8-minutes average response times Those are the kinds of decisions you were elected to make.
Now, if you can find that individual that’s as rabid about firefighters as some folks are about books, (I proudly and gladly support the Appleton Library Foundation), go for it. Establish the Fire Station Benevolent Fund, the Firebell Polishers Fund, or the Firehose Replacement Fund or the Fire Truck Maintenance Fund or the Firefighters Tribute Fund. Or look at this – a community member fixing up a mobile canteen for the firefighters! Neat.
But here’s the deal. Government services need to be paid for. There is no such thing as a free lunch. If people and governments spent as much time being creative (i.e., realistic) about prioritizing services as they do thinking up creative ways to pay for them, that’s how we might get some relief from our tax burden.
Somebody has to make the tough decisions about prioritizing those services and about the level of those services. And then those same somebodies have to acknowledge they need to TAX the people for this essential government service. There’s just no way to sugarcoat that.
COMMENTS
Jo, I read with interest your article about the funding of the new station. Appleton is working on a plan on how they would better serve the north side of the City as it grows. Whatever happened to the "TALKS" that were taking place between the City of Appleton and the Town of Grand Chute on doing a joint building and providing service to both communities on the north side? Both communities always talk about collaborative efforts and saving taxpayers dollars, did either side think that they couldn't work together? Where ego's too big? What's goin' on????
I've got my opinion. Have talked with Appleton Chief Cameron. Will you ask the mayor when he's last spoken with Town Chairman Marsden, then let me know? JE
Curt (Thu May 10 07:09:51 2007)
I find it beyond interesting that Grand Chute Township is having problems trying to finance a new fire station. Here is a municipal entity that prides itself on having a cheaper tax rate that its adjacent city and has so much tax base that it doesn't know what to do with it all yet has a fire department that cannot enter a burning building on weekdays unless at least two volunteers are able to leave their jobs on seconds' notice, along with a similarly and dangerously weak police force and streets that are a continuing and dangerous embarrassment to the metro area.
And further, to bring everything up to a generally acceptable level of service could likely drive their tax rate up to or even higher than that of that adjacent city.
This honestly starts to beg the question, at least in my mind, of why Grand Chute Township continues to exist as a separate entity. Instead of just starting talks on forming a joint fire department with that adjacent city (or at least buying the service from it), in my opinion, the time has come for the township to start talks on forming a full joint municipality with that adjacent city. Michael G. Koerner Appleton
Michael G Koerner (Thu May 10 10:14:40 2007)
Great blog again Jo. I just cannot imagine the thought of "fundraising" to build a new fire house. I agree with everything you said. Band fruit, girl scout cookies, soccer candy----- What could we sell to help build the fire house?
Dale (Thu May 10 10:25:35 2007)
I'm new to Fox Politics.net and I value these issues being discussed. Today's is another good one. We touched on this topic back in the Greenville blog (see last week) but shouldn't some sort of indexing scheme for taxes be put in place for response time? If people want to build farther and farther out shouldn't their services bill (taxes) reflect that? I applaud your donation but there's certainly enough captital spinning around out there on the North side to provide for basic services.
Interesting idea. I don't know about "farther out" but perhaps using some density indication? JE
Lon Ponschock (Thu May 10 13:15:57 2007)
Maybe funding a fire station should be accomplished with donations. Since the Life and Casulaity Insurance Companies will benefit from higher profits with a more local fire station maybe they should be the contributors.
I guess that will never work since it might cut into the bonus of some over paid executive.
Wait a minute; How about a contribution from all the over paid memebers of the Grand Chute Board. That won't work either they need all the money they get or they would not have given themselves big wages for minimal work.
Gee I guess the only thing left is to fund the station by raising taxes on the good citizens.
Maybe there are othe ways to build the needed fire ststion:
How about collecting donations from all the above named groups. If donations won't work then tax all the groups that will benefit from the station.
Jim Flading (Thu May 10 14:38:00 2007)
I guess I'm misunderstanding your opinion here, Jo. You're saying that if Grand Chute can defray the costs of a $3.5 million fire station by, say, $1 million by accepting voluntary donations, it's a bad idea because ... it sounds silly? That civic improvements should always be based on some kind of government tax or levy, no matter what, because that's just the way it is? So the Appleton West stadium should have been shot down from day one simply because half of it would have been privately paid for. We wouldn't even have had to discuss eminent domain. And Neenah's new basketball floor and track ... send that $400,000 in booster money back. The school district is a tax-levying body and should come up with that money on its own. I'm not arguing with your point that governments can do a better job of prioritizing and spending what they do have, but they're supposed to look gift horses in the mouth, too?
No, not because that's just the way it is Matt. But because essential government services should be budgeted and paid for by the people that use/need the services. If people are so willing and able to contribute $1,000,000 to essential city services, above and beyond their tax bill, I would suggest they contribute to the arts groups (or whatever non-profit community activities) that continue to need charitable contributions.A basketball floor and track, a football stadium - these are not essential government services. Big difference. JE
Matt Neistein (Thu May 10 17:14:26 2007)
As a matter of fact, I'm curious how The P-C's stance - "... Grand Chute should explore this public-private partnership and see where it goes" - is so radically different from yours: "Now, if you can find that individual that’s as rabid about firefighters as some folks are about books ... go for it." Apparently when we say it, we're stuck in an "ivory tower." Do you have one of your own?
No, no ivory tower here. I said "go for it" to fund memorials and the tradition of firebells. NOT essential services. I see a big difference there. I'm taking a stand - not asking for exploration. I'm taking a stand because charitable dollars should not be used to fund essential government services that directly benefit all the members of a community. Nevertheless, I defend forever, your right to an opinion! JE
Matt Neistein (Thu May 10 17:18:34 2007)
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