Following several weeks of discussion, the McCleary City Council approved an ordinance that will send a fire levy to ballots during the November general election.

If approved by voters, the five-year levy lid lift will raise some $180,000. Property taxes will increase by 48 cents per $1,000, meaning the owner of a home worth $150,000 will pay an extra $72 in property taxes each year during the five-year levy.

Overall, the city is expecting to purchase $250,000 in emergency equipment for the fire department. That equipment includes replacing aging and expiring oxygen tanks, bunker gear (the clothing firefighters wear when going into a burning building) and radios for both the fire and police departments.

The council is planning to use the remaining money from the rural electric economic development (REED) fund to make up the difference. That money can only be used for safety purposes.

Douglas Krikava, REED fund committee member, attended the July 26 city council and approved of the plan to use the remaining funds to supplement the levy.

“It’s for safety equipment which is what the money was designed for in the first place,” Krikava said. “It would reduce the burden on the taxpayers — I think it’s a good use of the money.”

Because property values vary as homes are assessed and new construction can add to the amount collected, the council is requesting a five-year levy but could cut the levy short at four years with a budget amendment if the levy has collected the goal before the five-year mark.

The city will not receive the full $180,000 immediately when the levy is passed, and the fire department’s current equipment is set to expire in the next two years. The city likely will take a loan for the full amount and use the levy to make loan payments over the next four to five years.

The ordinance to send the levy to voters was unanimously approved.