The idea for the fire department merger is taken from Plymouth and Plymouth Township. They merged into a single joint department in 1995. Their merger has resulted in 6 million in projected savings over a 10 year period. Their calculations on what percentage owned and what percentage cost are based on the following: they agreed to have the equity of the township at 75% and the city at 25%. Their operating cost were based on SEV (33%), population (33%) and run/use (33%), with the City's share never being less than 25%. We would hope to save $528,000 per year with this merger. We are hoping that this will increase easy access to all areas and reduce the time of response. This will increase the safety of the firefighters and the community. Many issues will have to be negotiated and tailored in order to make this merger work, but the savings to both the Township of Ypsilanti and the City of Ypsilanti would be mutually beneficial.
This shared service proposal has been dropped due to a change of administration for the City of Ypsilanti. The new administration has decided to pursue internal consolidation efforts instead, looking towards a hybrid public safety model rather than merging fire services with Ypsilanti Township.