Gibraltar voters reject public safety tax, leaving city leaders to seek new funding for police and fire

Gibraltar voters have rejected a proposed public safety tax that would have helped pay for everything from police vehicles to ambulances and firefighting equipment, and the decision wasn't close.

Unofficial results show 61% of voters cast ballots against the proposed public safety millage.

Randy Metzer was one of them.

Watch Carli Petrus' report in the video player below:

"My property taxes go up every single year and we're not getting anything in return," Metzer said.

But not everyone agreed. The remaining 39% of voters supported the tax, including Aimee Rodriguez.

"It's integral to your property values to have safe neighborhoods and good schools," Rodriguez said.

She said she understands why it didn't pass.

"It is expensive to live here. Our property taxes and our water rates especially," Rodriguez said.

The five-year, 3.5-mill tax would have generated an estimated $672,000 in its first year. The city wanted to put that money toward police vehicles, ambulances, firefighting equipment and a part-time fire staff.

"Currently our fire department is paid on-call which increases the length of time before they can respond to calls because they are out in other communities, or they are performing their job, or they're just at home instead of being here at the firehouse," said Rachel Witherspoon, Gibraltar city administrator.

Witherspoon said having more staff at the fire station could help speed up response times and potentially lower insurance costs for residents. But now the city is listening to what voters told them.

"They do not want a new tax and again, I understand that, everyone is stretched right now," Witherspoon said.

Now, city leaders are tasked with finding other ways to fund these services.

"The reality is, okay how can we find a way to listen to our residents, hear what they are telling us and re-prioritize things in our budget," Witherspoon said.

For now, Witherspoon doesn't expect any changes or reductions to public safety services. But with the cost of running the city continuing to climb, she said the city council will have some tough decisions ahead.

"I want residents to know that we hear you and we are listening to you and we are going to do everything we possibly can at the administrative level to ensure that your services are protected and that you as a resident are protected," Witherspoon said.

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