Marijuana tax money foots bill for Michigan township’s new $800K firetruck
Leoni Township and Jackson County as a whole will benefit from a new fire truck being paid for with marijuana tax dollars.
The brand new 2,000-gallon tanker is being built from scratch by Rosenbauer Fire Apparatus after the Leoni Township Board of Trustees approved the use of marijuana excise tax money to pay for the new $842,000 drilling rig, township officials said Wednesday, April 24.
“The township Board of Trustees believes that the marijuana excise tax funds should benefit all residents of Leoni Township and not just one group,” officials wrote in the township’s spring newsletter.
With ten permitted marijuana dispensaries, Leoni Township has the most in Jackson County. In 2023 alone, it will collect more than $590,000 in marijuana tax revenue from the companies through the state treasury, according to state tax data.
The municipality purchased its last fire truck in 2017, after not purchasing an engine for thirty years.
“In the past, the township has had to try to raise an amount to purchase this type of new equipment, so it’s really nice to be able to get this paid for without having to ask the public for money,” Leoni Township Administrator Mike Jester said. “Also, because we paid for the new truck immediately, we saved money in the long run that would have gone into costs and interest.”
The new truck is expected to be ready and delivered to the municipality in May 2025.
“It’s a little smaller than the two trucks we got in 2017, but it’s a huge improvement over the 65-foot ladder truck we have now that it will replace,” said Scott Grajewski, Blackman’s director of public safety. Leoni Township. . “The ladder truck is still usable, but we don’t know how much is left in it and we don’t want a truck to be idle when we need it most.”
The new truck’s increased reliability will benefit not only Leoni Township, but the county as a whole, thanks to the frequency with which the department assists other firefighters in the area on major fires, Grajewski said.
“Having this new truck will make a world of difference to the region,” he said.
