Tag Archives: May 3

Voters head to the polls Tuesday for two city proposals and one Wyoming School district request

3-bottom, City of Wyoming, Education, Election, , , , , ,

By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org

Tomorrow, May 3, the residents of the City of Wyoming will be heading to the polls for two city proposals, an income tax and a reduction in city property taxes, while those in Wyoming Public Schools also are being asked to renew a $24.9 million bond proposal to renovate the Wyoming Junior High building.

The first of the two city proposals on the ballot is for an income tax that would be aup to 1 percent for city residents and up to .5 percent for non-residents such as commuters who work in the city. In the second proposal, the city is seeking to reduce the city property tax by about 58 percent, from around 12 mills to 5. Both proposals must pass to take effect.

According to city officials, the goal of the proposals is to build a more sustainable funding for the city and create equitably in sharing city expenses with those who use city services but do not live in the city while helping to reduce the cost to residents with the reduction in city property taxes.

If the two proposals pass, it would raise about an additional $6 million in funding from the city. The Wyoming City Council has said it would put $3.3 million toward its fire department, doubling the department’s current staffing from 27 to 54.

This would add about nine firefighters per shift and the city would be able to fully staff all four of its fire stations. Currently only two of the stations, Gezon and 36th Street, are fully staffed; however emergency calls are evenly distributed throughout the city, according to Fire Chief Brian Bennett. The city is broken into four fire districts with the busiest being the Division station, which is currently unmanned.

The city received about 7,155 calls in 2021, which is about 600 calls above 2020. Within the first four months of 2022, the department is already 200 calls ahead of the same time period in 2021.

The department has the highest calls per firefighter in the area. Wyoming averages about 265 calls per firefighter with the City of Kentwood averaging around 121 while the City of Grand Rapids averages 123 calls per firefighter.

About $2.1 million would go toward the police department to increase its staff by 13 officers and 1 crime analyst. According to Wyoming Department of Public Safety Chief Kim Koster, this would allow the department to increase traffic patrols. The city had 35 traffic fatalities from 2016 to 2020 and was ranked 5th in the state.

Koster said the city also has seen an increase in violent crime with calls requiring more than one officer to respond and resulting in less officers being available for traffic enforcement and neighborhood patrols.

The remaining $600,000 would be for capital improvements at the city’s parks. The current Parks and Recreation millage, which is 1.5 mills, has not been increased in more than 20 years. It is used to fund recreation programs, maintenance services, and basically facility upkeep.

“In 2020, when we received all the income from the parks and recreation millage, fees, and grants and then subtracted out all the expenses, we had about $30,000 left to roll into the fund balance for capital improvements,” Rebecca Rynbrandt, the city’s director of community services, said in a previous WKTV story.

Wyoming Public Schools

Those living in the Wyoming Public Schools district, are being asked to renew a $24.9 million bond proposal that would go toward renovating Wyoming Junior High to look like the current Wyoming High School.

According to school officials, the debt millage rate would remain the same at 5.65 mills, which is what it has been since 2016. Bond approval would not raise taxes, according to school officials.

 

Monies from the proposed bond millage will be combined with money set aside from the 2017 bond, which is about $11 million and includes $3 million for the Dan Heintzelman auditorium. If approved, renovations would include construction of a large two-story addition. The fine arts center would become a stand-alone building.

 

Voting

To check on your voting status and to see a sample ballot, visit mi.gov/vote. To vote in a city or school election, you must be a U.S. citizen, a resident of the city or school district for at least 30 days, are 18 years or old, and are not serving a sentence in jail or prison. Following voter-approved election changes in 2018, Michigan residents now have the option to register in-person with the local clerk on election day. Once registered, each voter will have the choice to vote absentee or drive to the polling location to vote in person.

 

Those voting absentee must return the absentee ballot by 8 p.m. Tuesday, May 3. Ballots may be mailed or dropped off at the ballot drop box behind city hall or in-person at city hall until 8 p.m.

The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voters should double check their precinct location, have photo ID, and should not wear or bring any political material to the precinct.

 

For more information on voice, visit the City of Wyoming website. 

Wyoming’s continued growth does not just impact schools, but city services such as fire

3-bottom, City of Wyoming, , ,

By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org

When a new housing project is proposed in a community, the first thing most people think of is how will it impact the local schools. In truth, a new development may impact a community’s utilities — especially its fire department — even more.

“Whenever there is a new development, it means more people using your streets which in turn means more potential crashes and other safety issues,” said Wyoming Fire Chief Brian Bennett.

 

In the past 20 years, the City of Wyoming has seen several new developments such as HOM Flats along Prairie Parkway and The Reserve at 54th Street and Wilson Avenue, which has resulted in the city’s population increasing from 69,000 to 76,000. Within the first four months of 2022, the fire department has responded to 200 more calls than in the same period of 2021. Bennett noted that from 2020 to 2021, there was an increase of 600 calls and he expects 2022 to outpace 2021 in calls.

In that same 20-year time span, the department, due to state funding cuts and the 2008 recession, has decreased by eight full-time firefighters to 27 and, due to increase training requirements, paid-on call firefighters have gone down from 40 to 6.

 

Through two proposals on the May 3 ballot, the city hopes to double its current fire staffing from 27 to 54. The first proposal would be an income tax of up to 1 percent for city residents and up to .5 percent for non-residents such as commuters who work in the city. In the second proposal, the city is seeking to reduce the city property tax by about 58 percent, from around 12 mills to 5. Both proposals must pass to take effect.

“Our goal is to be more efficient at what we do,” Bennett said, adding the additional staffing would put the department in about the middle of the pack for staffing and calls per firefighter.

The Wyoming Fire Department has the highest calls per firefighter in the Greater Grand Rapids, averaging about 265 calls per firefighters. The department averages about 20 calls a day. (WKTV)

Currently the department has the highest number of calls per firefighters in the Greater Grand Rapids area with 265 calls per firefighter. The City of Grand Rapids averages about 124 calls per firefighter while the City of Kentwood averages about 110 calls per firefighters.

The calls are not just for fires, but for a variety of safety issues such as tree damage, wires down, vehicle crashes, gas leaks, and medical calls.

“A lot of people think that all a fire department does is respond to fires,” Bennett said, adding that fire calls are only a small portion of what the department handles. “But over the years, the fire department’s responsibility has expanded to include just about anything that involves safety.

“Basically, we are here to assure that the people who are in our community can safely operate while they are here.”

For example, if there is a crash on the expressway, the department not only responses to the accident but also must mitigate any gas spills to assure the gas does not enter the waterways so as not to contaminate the city’s water supply.

Because of the increase in calls, the result has been the City of Wyoming relying on neighboring communities. In fact, in 2020, the city had to rely on other departments 140 times because its fire department was on another call.

“With the increased number of calls, it makes our availability less and less,” Bennett said. “The result is we have to rely on our neighbors more to cover what we can’t get to.”

Bennett noted that the reliance on other departments does mean longer response times for those waiting for assistance.

Assuring the safety of its residents and visitors also means the department is responsible to review all the site plans for any construction project within the city to assure all the safety features are included in the overall design as well as handle safety inspections for business, restaurants and hotels.

“These safety inspections are suppose to be done every year but because of staffing, we are not able to get to all of them every year,” Bennett said.

With the expected news of what will be constructed on Site 36, commercial and residential development in the City of Wyoming does not look to be slowing down. In fact, there is a movement to revitalize Division Avenue and with new businesses and housing means more demands on the fire department.  Bennett noted the city is divided into four fire districts with the busiest currently being Division, which has an unman station.

 

Two out of the city’s fire stations are manned 24/7. If the two May 3 proposals are approved, all four stations would be manned.

To learn more about the two May 3 proposals, visit wyomingmi.gov/FundingFortheFuture. 

May 3 proposal could double fire department staffing, reduce response times

3-bottom, City of Wyoming, Crime Prevention, Hard News, Our Cities, WKTV Projects, , , ,

By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org

Currently there are 27 Wyoming firefighters. The department is down by 8 employees from 2000. (WKTV)

In the early morning hours of Jan. 25, the Wyoming Fire Department was called to a house fire on Canal Ave and shortly after, the department received a second call of a fire at the 28th Street Taco Bell.

“Thankfully another shift was on,” said Wyoming Chief Kim Koster. “The Taco Bell fire occurred at 6:30 a.m. Our next shift came on at 7 a.m., so we did have another shift of firefighters who could respond, and they were assisted by other departments.

“But what if we didn’t have that other shift coming on at that time?”

More than likely, a department from a neighboring city, such as Grandville, Grand Rapids, or Kentwood, would have been called. In fact, the City of Wyoming has had to call on those three cities 165 times in 2021 while in the same year providing return assistance 23 times.

The tide needs to turn, Koster said, adding “We need to provide mutual aid in the same manner that we receive it.”

The City of Wyoming is hoping to double its firefighting staffing from 27 to 54 and added 13 police officers and a crime analyst through two proposals on the May 3 ballot. The first proposal would be an income tax of up to 1 percent for city residents and up to .5 percent for non-residents such as commuters who work in the city. In the second proposal, the city is seeking to reduce its property tax by about 58 percent, from around 12 mills to 5. Both proposals must pass to take effect.

The passage would generate about $6 million for the city, of which $5.4 million would be dedicated to the Wyoming Department of Public Safety, which houses the city’s police and fire.

 

How would the city gain revenue if the property tax would go down? According to City Manager Curtis Holt at the March 24 income tax public information meeting, according to the U.S. Census there are about 34,000 non-Wyoming residents who work in the City of Wyoming who currently contribute zero toward the city roads or services. Through the first proposal, those residents would contribute up to a .5 percent of their income. City staff has estimated the total revenue raised from the income tax would be about $6 million annually with $3.3 million dedicated to the fire department, $2.1 million to the police department, and $600,000 to the parks.

With the additional $3.3 million, the City of Wyoming would be able to hire an additional 27 firefighters. This would add about 9 firefighters per shift and the city would be able to fully staff all four of its fire stations. Currently only two of the stations, Gezon and 36th Street, are fully staffed; however emergency calls are evenly distributed throughout the city, Koster said.

The city received about 7,155 calls in 2021, which is about 265 calls for service per firefighter. With the additional firefighters, calls for service per firefighter would decrease to around 133. In neighboring Kentwood, calls for service per firefighter is about 121. Kentwood has 42 firefighters serving a population of 51,898. The City of Grand Rapids has 195 firefighters serving a population of 201,013 with calls for service per firefighter around 123. Holt pointed out that this shows that Wyoming’s firefighters are answering a lot of calls.

The Wyoming Fire Department answered 7,155 calls in 2021, averaging 265 calls for service per firefighter. (WKTV)

The additional 27 firefighters would allow the city to fully staff all four of its stations, Koster said, adding that in return this would mean faster response times.

“Right now, we have to send our resources to where the calls are,” Koster said during the March 24 informational meeting. “Sometimes we have to send them all away across the city and then a call comes out from where they just came from. So then again, we have to send a unit from this side of the city all the way back. So our response times are higher that way.”

There would be more firefighters on each shift, again increasing response times along with providing enough officers to answer more than one call at a time. More officers not only increases the safety of residents but of the firefighters as well.

“Right now, we don’t have enough firefighters in the City of Wyoming to enter a burning building,” Koster said, adding that the rule is you have to have two out for the two going in a burning structure so the two out can rescue the two in if something happens.

Lastly, the increased staffing would reduce Wyoming’s dependence on mutual aid.

“It won’t eliminate it,” Koster said, adding that there will be times when another city’s department has to be called.

“It would increase the number of firefighters on each shift so when we have those structure fires we can handle them alone or at least leave some of those units available for some of those medical calls,” she said.

To learn more about the two May 3 proposals, visit wyomingmi.gov/FundingFortheFuture. The next informational meeting on the two proposals is April 19 at 6:30 p.m. at the KDL Wyoming Branch, 3350 Michael Ave. SW.