Washtenaw County State Reps and A Tale of Pork Spending: New Firetrucks and $988K for Barton Hills

by P.D. Lesko

In March 2025, State Reps. Jason Morgan, Jimmie Wilson and Carrie Rheingans submitted requests for pork spending to benefit Ann Arbor, Superior and Scio Twps. The Reps., along with local elected officials, want Michigan taxpayers to foot the bills for new firetrucks for their localities. The justifications provided to get the pork spending from the Michigan Legislature vary from the pompous (Ann Arbor) to the fantastical (Scio Twp.).

In 2025, Ann Arbor taxpayers spent $19.1 million on its Fire Dept. Ann Arbor’s state Rep. Jason Morgan put in what’s called a Legislatively Directed Spending Item (LDSI) for $2 million for Ann Arbor. The money requested from Michigan taxpayers is to purchase one aerial ladder truck for the Ann Arbor Fire Department. Morgan writes in his LDSI to justify the request, “Ann Arbor’s growing vertical development and its role as a host for major citywide events together reinforce the need for a new aerial ladder truck…. At the same time, the city regularly manages some of the largest ticketed events within its boundaries, drawing tens of thousands of visitors and placing extraordinary demands on emergency coordination, incident command, and public‐safety readiness.”

Ann Arbor’s adopted annual budget in 2025 includes $608 million in revenue and $564.8 million in expenditures, leaving an over $40 million surplus. The budget includes the increase of city staff from 829 to 849, including two new full-time staff members in the City Administrator’s Dept. At the same time, the budget includes the use of $3.79 million from the City’s Fund Balance (savings), but not to purchase and aerial ladder truck for the Fire Dept. Ann Arbor’s elected officials, Sate Rep. Morgan and the City Administrator want Michigan taxpayers to foot that bill.

Ann Arbor Rep. Carrie Rheingans submitted a LDSI for $450,000 for Scio Twp. to purchase one aerial ladder truck which could be provided to a neighboring city (Dexter/Saline) or any neighboring township “at no cost.”

Rep. Morgan and Ypsilanti Rep. Jimmie Wilson submitted an LDSI for $900,000 to replace one of Superior Twp.’s “aging firetrucks.”

In their joint LDSI to ask Michigan taxpayers to foot the bill for a firetruck for Superior Twp., Morgan and Wilson write, “The township’s current apparatus is nearing the end of its operational lifespan, requiring increasingly frequent and costly maintenance to remain functional. This not only strains the township’s limited resources but also creates potential risks of service disruptions. Fire protection is a core government responsibility, fundamental to safeguarding lives, property, and the overall well-being of our community.”

It’s unclear why the Township’s elected officials did not set aside money to replace its “aging firetrucks.” According to NFPA guidelines, firetrucks often serve as front-line vehicles for 10–15 years before moving to reserve (backup) status, with complete retirement generally recommended by 25 years. New firetrucks cost between $500,000-$1,000,000.

The Superior’s Twp. Treasurer Lisa Lewis’s Finances page doesn’t include the 2024 or 2025 annual budgets, and the most recent audit of the Township’s finances posted on that page is from 2020. In 2023, Superior Twp.’s budget shows it took in approximately $13.3 million in revenue.

If fire protection is “a core government responsibility” in Superior Twp. that township’s budget doesn’t reflect it. In Jan. 2025, elected officials implemented a five-month hiring freeze to deal with a deficit budget, including a freeze on hiring in the fire department. The 2025 budget, however, included salary hikes for Clerk Angela Robinson, a hike that bumped her salary up from $99,403 to $101,391. Likewise, the Township’s Treasurer Lisa Lewis’s salary was raised from $99,403 to $101,391. Supervisor Emily Dabish Yahkind’s pay was raised from $100,366 to $102,373.

Rep. Carrie Rheingans writes in her LDSI for $450,000 for Scio Twp. to purchase an aerial ladder truck, “Scio Township continues to experience rapid growth. With that growth comes increasing demand on public safety and prevention services. To meet these demands head on, and to look towards the future, we must build our capacity to address these needs in a meaningful way. Scio currently relies on another community’s ladder truck, without the ability to reciprocate.”

Data from the U.S. Census Bureau show that between 2020 and 2024, Scio Twp.’s population did increase by 1,000 people, from 17,552 residents to 18,552 residents. Census data also show that in 2010, Scio Twp. had 20,081 residents. Contrary to Rheingans’s claim in her LDSI, Scio Twp. lost thousands of residents between 2010 and 2024.

Scio Twp.’s 2023/2024 budget shows elected officials had set aside just $30,000 for the replacement of firetrucks. Between 2014 and 2025, elected officials in that Township have permitted seven of Scio Twp.’s annual budgets to run deficits.

In Feb and March of 2026, Washtenaw County Rep. Jennifer Conlin made a total of eight LDSI requests that include $988,000 to “replace and strengthen aging water utility infrastructure within Barton Hills Village, who is the operator of the public water supply, to improve public safety and reliability.”

The population of Barton Hills Village is 324, and those residents pointedly don’t pay Ann Arbor property taxes or buy their water from the Ann Arbor water utility. Rep. Conlin writes in her LDSI, “Barton Hills Village currently provides drinking water and fire protection flow to the public through infrastructure that is over 90 years old in many areas.” The median income in Barton Hills Village is more than $250,000 and the average property value is between $1.31-$1.41 million. Nonetheless, the 324 residents of that village want Michigan taxpayers to foot the bill for repairs to its water infrastructure.

In 2025/2026, Michigan’s elected officials have used the LDSI system to request $911 million in pork spending.