Amanda Forrester / news@whmi.com


The Brighton Area Fire Authority is requesting an increase to their operating millage to help meet the community’s growing needs.

In a press release on Wednesday, Fire Chief Michael O’Brian said the department’s operating millage will be on the ballot this November. The request will raise the rate to 2.75 mills.

“This increase is intended to provide 24-hour staffing at all of our fire stations and counter the impact of rising costs to the Authority,” the press release said. “This change will allow the Authority to meet the growing community demands while keeping costs at a minimum.”

The new millage would not take effect until December of 2026 if it is approved by voters.

The proposed millage increase will cover from 2026 until 2030, the press release said. It is based on “projections extending two years into the future.” The result will be an estimated increase of $125 per $100,000 of taxable value per year.

Fire Marshall Richard Boisvert said product scarcity from a couple years ago and inflation has increased the amount of money the organization is spending each year. The projections from the current millage have been surpassed, and BAFA could be in the red by the end of next year.

Boisvert said an engine that used to cost between $10,000 and $15,000 to maintain now costs between $30,000 and $40,000. It also had a new motor put in that cost $35,000.

Brighton’s growing community requires additional full-time and part-time staff be hired and trained for emergencies that could arise. BAFA said it’s becoming more difficult to not only have on-call firefighters, keeping them has also proved harder.

“Although recruitment of paid-on-call firefighters has grown more difficult over the past five years, retention poses a significant impact due to the highly competitive job market for full-time firefighting positions throughout Michigan,” BAFA HR Director Anne Campbell said in the release. “This has accelerated the loss of our internally trained firefighters to other organizations and has made it difficult to maintain adequate staffing levels.

O’Brian said the millage would allow for the organization to meet the firefighter deployment standards required by the National Fire Protection Association.

The safety of the community is the most important thing to BAFA, Boisvert said. The new millage will mean they can continue to serve the Brighton area and meet the increased number of calls coming into the stations.

The vote for the millage will take place on Nov. 5.