Fire Protection Fund Information

City of Charlotte Fire Protection Fund

In 2021, the City of Charlotte was facing a significant budgetary shortfall. In an effort to protect city services, including the fire department, the City Council created a Special Assessment District to provide dedicated funding for the fire department in 2021. This will ensure the department is protected from cuts due to funding shortfalls in the city. We recognize the fire department provides an invaluable service to our community. Firefighters work hard to keep the community safe beyond fighting fires and responding to emergencies. They also serve an important role in fire prevention, disaster preparedness, and education on fire safety. Our firefighters are on-call to respond to any emergency which may include life saving evacuation, hazard mitigation, and medical emergencies. All these duties require on-going training and equipment to provide the services we all depend upon in our time of need.

Back at the station, their duties continue as they maintain equipment and vehicles, stay up-to-date on latest training and best practices, and engage in practice drills to keep their skills sharp. Our fire department also serves as a valuable partner in the community providing public education and community outreach. Coordinating with the schools to provide fire safety education for children, along with events like the Christmas Kiddies, our fire department is truly a community resource. Recognizing the important benefits of the fire department has led the city officials to consider this dedicated assessment to ensure the funding needed remains available to maintain these services. Without this additional revenue, we will not be able to continue to provide the same level of service by the fire department, or any of the other valuable city services.

Each year, the City Council must review the annual expenditures and the City Assessor must prepare an assessment roll to defray 85% of those costs. The Special Assessment Roll for 2023 can be reviewed in-person at City Hall or online here as pdf or excel:

 

There will be a public hearings on this year’s assessment roll on Monday, May 15, 2023 at 7pm.

To learn more about this assessment and why it was adopted, please links below:

2021 Fire Protection Fund Public Hearing Power Point

2021 Fire Protection Fund Special Assessment General FAQ

2021 Public Hearing Q & A

To learn more about the city’s finances, click here to view budgets and audits

In 2020, the city conducted a fiscal and operational analysis click here to read the consultant’s report with findings and recommendations. 

After passage of PA 202 of 2017, which mandated a minimum 60% funding of pension systems and 40% funding of OPEB, the city was mandated to file a corrective action plans with the state to address the underfunded liabilities of it’s pension and OPEB liabilities which included seeking additional revenue through a Special Assessment District. In 2021, the city filed a corrective action plan to address audit findings, including the prior three-year’s expenditures exceeding revenues. In 2022, the city filed required monitoring paperwork regarding the progress of the pension and OPEB plans. All documents have been filed with the State and are available below or on the Michigan Department of Treasury website:
OPEB Corrective Action Plan

Pension Corrective Action Plan

2021 Corrective Action Plan

OPEB CAP Monitoring 2022

Pension CAP Monitoring 2022