Fire Chief Battles Fake Millage Texts

A fire leader in Michigan is raising a warning. He said people got tricky text messages. The texts tried to tie a fire millage to license plate readers. Those readers go by names like Flock and Rekor.

Fire Chief Nicholas George shared this news. He said the fire department had no part in buying such surveillance tools. He said no millage money was planned for those purchases. He called the messages not true.

Voters in Highland Township will decide on a fire operating millage. The plan sought a 0.47-mill increase. The extra cash was meant to help with raises, worker talks, fuel costs, and other rising prices.

A different fire millage had failed in August. Officials then changed the ballot wording. They put the issue on the midterm ballot. Resident Suzanne Jarasz got one text. She said it was spam. She knew the fire team was not tied to Flock. She worried older residents might not know what to do. She said folks should call the township or fire department. The chief said he hoped the sender would stop. He said it was tough to see workers be treated this way.

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