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Council highlights spike in emergency calls as campaigners urge support for August fire millage
Summary
Councilwoman Neubauer presented 2025 emergency-response figures — 9,048 incidents and about 224 concurrent calls when the city could not respond — and urged residents to vote on the Aug. 4 fire millage, saying it would fund 12 firefighter-paramedics and an ambulance. Council discussed staffing pressures and the millage''s earmarked use.
Councilwoman Neubauer told the Rochester Hills City Council on July 27 that the city fielded 9,048 incidents requiring fire or EMS response in 2025, roughly 745 calls per month, a sharp increase from 2023. "We had 224 concurrent calls that we were unable to respond to our residents," she said, underscoring a capacity gap on busy days.
Neubauer said the proposed fire millage on the Aug. 4 ballot is earmarked for Rochester Hills residents and would allow the city to hire "12 additional firefighter paramedics, which is an additional 4 per shift, and staff an additional ambulance." She framed the proposal as public-safety spending rather than a general tax increase and estimated the cost at about $8.79 per month for a home assessed at $400,000.
Council and mayoral remarks placed the millage in context: members acknowledged mutual aid arrangements with neighboring cities but stressed that many nearby departments face similar staffing shortages. Neubauer noted a grant opportunity that influenced placing the measure on the August ballot rather than November so that, if approved, the city could access grant funds sooner.
Councilmembers asked for more information and urged residents to research the proposal ahead of the election. Mayor Barnett also noted the city had posted explanatory materials and staff are available to answer resident questions.
Next steps: the millage will appear on the Aug. 4 ballot; council members encouraged voter turnout and offered to provide additional data to residents on request.
