By Greg Chandler
Zeeland Record
Zeeland Township will ask voters this spring to approve the renewal of a tax that goes toward paying township firefighters.
The Township Board Feb. 3 voted 4-0 to place on the May 5 ballot a proposal to renew the township’s fire compensation millage at its current rate of 0.9857 mills for a period of three years through 2029. If approved, the levy would generate $729,533 in its first year, according to township documents.
Township voters in May 2022 approved increasing the fire compensation millage to one mill. The proposal passed with 902 yes votes to 407 no votes. The levy has since been rolled back to its current level by the Headlee amendment.
The fire compensation millage is separate from the township’s fire operations millage, which was renewed in November 2024.
“Our fire operating (millage) covers all the operating costs of all the stations, all the truck purchases,” Township Treasurer Melissa Veldheer said. “For whatever reason … years ago compensation came as its own millage. We pay the wages and benefits out of this separate fund.”
The board considered seeking a restoration of the original one-mill levy that passed in 2022, but ultimately decided that the township has enough reserves in its fire compensation fund that it could afford to seek a renewal of the present levy.
“I don’t want to be in the habit of asking for more money if we don’t really need it right now,” Township Manager Josh Eggleston said. “There may come a time, five years from now, where that has changed, and we can (seek restoration of the full mill).”
Going back to the full one-mill levy would have generated an additional $10,584 for the fire compensation fund, according to township documents.
The township fire department responded to a record 1,003 calls last year, a 20.8 percent increase from 2024, when it received 830 calls, according to the department’s annual report.
Zeeland Record
Zeeland Township will ask voters this spring to approve the renewal of a tax that goes toward paying township firefighters.
The Township Board Feb. 3 voted 4-0 to place on the May 5 ballot a proposal to renew the township’s fire compensation millage at its current rate of 0.9857 mills for a period of three years through 2029. If approved, the levy would generate $729,533 in its first year, according to township documents.
Township voters in May 2022 approved increasing the fire compensation millage to one mill. The proposal passed with 902 yes votes to 407 no votes. The levy has since been rolled back to its current level by the Headlee amendment.
The fire compensation millage is separate from the township’s fire operations millage, which was renewed in November 2024.
“Our fire operating (millage) covers all the operating costs of all the stations, all the truck purchases,” Township Treasurer Melissa Veldheer said. “For whatever reason … years ago compensation came as its own millage. We pay the wages and benefits out of this separate fund.”
The board considered seeking a restoration of the original one-mill levy that passed in 2022, but ultimately decided that the township has enough reserves in its fire compensation fund that it could afford to seek a renewal of the present levy.
“I don’t want to be in the habit of asking for more money if we don’t really need it right now,” Township Manager Josh Eggleston said. “There may come a time, five years from now, where that has changed, and we can (seek restoration of the full mill).”
Going back to the full one-mill levy would have generated an additional $10,584 for the fire compensation fund, according to township documents.
The township fire department responded to a record 1,003 calls last year, a 20.8 percent increase from 2024, when it received 830 calls, according to the department’s annual report.
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