For many organizations, building a new fire station is a one-time event, while for others, it’s an annual occurrence. No matter whether you have one shot at the unique experience of building a new station or you’re fortunate enough to have multiple go’s at station builds, everyone is in the same boat when it comes to one key factor – how to pay for it.
My department recently had the opportunity to construct our second new fire station in the last five years – Station 75. Station 75 is a 12,000-square-foot station that sits on the western side of our district. Cost: $3.1 million. Having been through the process from start to finish, I can share some of the successes, challenges and pitfalls to avoid as you embark on your own station build, with a special focus on how we paid for the stations. Most notably, our Station 75 build benefitted greatly from lessons from our previous build – Station 72, a 12,000-square-foot facility, this time on the northside of town. Cost: $2.6 million.
Our journey to build Station 72 began in 2012. I use the term journey because building a new station is a yearslong process, encompassing planning, design and construction. We opened Station 72 in July 2018. We started our Station 75 planning in 2000, and the facility is set to open in August 2025.
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Data matters
As always, our first step was identifying the need for a new station or an additional station. In our case, the organization’s intuition was screaming the need for a new station. Not only had the organization outgrown the old station, but the current location was quickly losing its effectiveness in providing a timely response. Obviously, we couldn’t ask the taxpayers to fund a new station based solely on a gut feeling. We had to examine the numbers.
Call volume data played a key role in making the case for a new station, as was the data we collected from our county planning department. The planning department provided mapping and growth information from the last 25 years – critical information that highlighted the number of new houses in our area along with the current and projected growth in our jurisdiction.
Bottom line: Data matters. Use it and dig deep when preparing for capital improvement projects.
Funding options
For Station 75, we knew going in that funding was going to be a big hurdle to overcome. We typically fund these projects through a mill levy property tax that was established in 1947 – and has never been adjusted. In other words, it would be impossible for us to fund a new station through our current budget. We needed an additional funding source for the station.
We first looked to grants and ultimately determined that federal grant options didn’t apply to us, and there were no available state grants. That meant we would need to seek taxpayer support through a special purpose sales tax.
Special purpose sales tax is controlled by the county and municipal incorporated cities. The first hurdle was to get approval and support from our county commissioners. This is where our data came into play. The data provided a snapshot of the number of new houses that were well outside of the 5-mile radius of our current stations. It also showed the continued sprawl further from existing infrastructure along with the current response times. The numbers showed our response times increasing by 2 to 10 minutes due to the time and distance. Additionally, the data showed a 7-20% increase in new construction. At the same time, our neighboring municipal city was annexing additional ground to accommodate their own growth. Because of the projected annexation, the old Station 72 would be located in the city, truly not serving our community anymore. We clearly needed a new station.
To fund this project, we needed to establish a ballot initiative where the citizens would make the final funding decision. After gaining support from the political body, the real work began – convincing our citizens of the need while simultaneously sketching out ideas. We started 16 months ahead of the ballot to market and promote the project.
Gaining support
Gaining public support for the station always requires a lot of work, especially if you have a small budget. Your first instinct may be to host public meetings at your station; these are good but have limited reach. Instead, go to them.
We prepared a public presentation that we shared at our open houses, but more importantly, we hit the road. We scheduled meetings with Rotary Club breakfasts, Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) evening meetings and at the county commissioners’ chambers to gain support for the project. Other options in your community might include the Women’s League of Voters, Kiwanis, Moose and Elks Clubs, Chamber of Commerce, Lions Club – the list will be long, but it’s worth the effort. These civic organizations are a great place to start gaining traction for your new station. Take every opportunity to present your need, utilizing maps and graphs in both print and digital format.
While gaining the support of civic organizations will feel positive, remember that there will always be a contingent of people who are against the new station. Some will be anti-tax folks, and some will be citizens who have an emotional connection to the existing station. (In some cases, the people with the strongest emotional connection to your existing station will be former members.) Identify the negative issues and address them head-on, do your research, deploy your data, and stay away from emotional arguments. Focusing on the data will help keep emotions in check.
Design ideas
Creating a design that fits the budget is vital to the project’s success – and keeping all stakeholders calm. We formed a committee to brainstorm the initial design. The committee included internal stakeholders who studied new concepts in station designs and visited other stations in our region to get ideas. Note that committees are great for the initial design; however, as you delve deeper into the design, it is essential to reduce the size of the committee in order to make the difficult decisions – think of the adage “too many cooks in the (station) kitchen.”
Most communities utilize a request for proposals (RFP) process to build capital improvements like stations. In our case, we needed marketing materials to help secure funding for the station. Without a secure funding source, we struggled to accept an RFP for a designer and builder. The committee’s work got us to a point where we could get a very rough conceptual drawing done by local company to use for marketing.
As you brainstorm station features, it’s important to pause to consider not only what you can afford but also what your community considers appropriate – and what they might view as extravagant. This is a classic wants vs. needs analysis. I strongly recommend erring on the conservative side. For example, we wanted all-glass panel bay doors; unfortunately, this tripled the price. Reality set in that we could only afford single row of glass in the bay doors.
Funding approved
In the end, we were awarded $2 million for Station 72 and $2.67 million for Station 75. Factoring in inflation and some design changes, we were slightly over budget on both stations. To account for this, our board decided to use general funds to bridge the gap. Pro tip: Add enough buffer in your design to account for inflation and any unanticipated costs.
After successful funding through the mill levy vote, we would put the total project out for RFP. At this point, the committee had a rough list of wants to recommend to an architect – and the build could proceed.
Spotlight the positive
It’s important to provide updates to the community throughout the process. Social media posts and news features can build excitement for the new facility. Additionally, once your station is complete, be sure to spotlight how the station is making an impact on services. After Station 72 opened, we used social media to highlight the number of calls that were mitigated by the new facility. Bottom line: Market, market, market the impact of the new station, especially when the citizens footed the bill.
Final thoughts
Funding new fire stations is challenging, especially when seeking taxpayer support. Take your time, develop your plan, and lay the groundwork beforehand. The better the foundation, the more success you will have in gaining trust – and financial support.
