Medina fire truck, addition would cost average household $100 more a year
Village seeking federal assistance to bring down cost to local taxpayers
File photo by Tom Rivers: The Medina ladder truck from 1996 is shown in March 2023 when the fire department had an open house showing the tight quarters at the fire hall, especially for the ladder truck which only has 2 inches of clearance in pulling in and out of the fire hall.
MEDINA – Paying $3 million off over the next 20 years for a new ladder truck and addition to the fire hall will cost the average household an additional $100 in village taxes each year, Mayor Marguerite Sherman said during Monday’s Village Board meeting.
That is how it stands now if the village is unable to secure any grant assistance for the truck and the addition.
Medina is spending $1,698,995 with Pierce Manufacturing in Appleton, Wisc. to build the new fire truck with a 100-foot-long ladder. That truck is due to arrive between October and December, Sherman said. It will replace a ladder truck that is 29 years old.
Paying off the ladder truck with an annual bond payment will cost 46 cents per $1,000 of assessed property, she said. The average house is assessed for $129,000 in the village. Sherman said that puts the annual burden for the truck at $59.34 a year over 20 years.
She is pursuing federal assistance for the truck from Congresswoman Claudia Tenney and U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer. An application to those offices is due March 31 and Sherman said the village should be notified in June whether any support will be coming towards the truck.
Medina also is looking at taking out a $1.3 million bond towards a fire hall addition for the new truck, which wouldn’t fit in the current fire station.
With that addition, if there aren’t any grants for Medina, the bond would impact the tax rate at 32 cents per $1,000 of assessed or $41.28 a year for the average. She said the village may pursue assistance for the addition from the Community Development Block Grant program through the federal Housing and Urban Development Grant program. Those applications open in May, Sherman said.
Together, for the two bonds, the impact would be $99.62 if the village is unable to secure outside funding for the truck and addition.
The Village Board is holding off on taking out finalizing a bond for the addition until it finds out more from the grant possibilities.
The mayor said it is unlikely the addition will be ready in time for the new truck. Village officials are looking at temporary housing for the truck. It will need to be in a heated building, she said.
