The Quincy Fire Department is restoring a ladder truck that had been mothballed for more than 33 years, a move that might seem mundane to the public but one officials say has been a longtime coming.

Adding a fourth ladder truck means staffing will also increase, reaching a level the city has not seen since 1985, officials said Tuesday. The engine and four new firefighters are slated to start working July 1.

Residents in the Hough’s Neck, Germantown, Adams Shore and Merrymount neighborhoods will see quicker response times, with firefighters showing up to scenes within six minutes, Fire Chief Joe Jackson said.

The ladder truck will be stationed at the Hough’s Neck firehouse on the city’s northeastern peninsula, surrounded by Quincy Bay, Hingham Bay and Rock Island Cove.

“There’s been a big hole down that end of the city with ladder coverage for a long, long time,” Jackson told the Herald. “This mayor, thank God he recognized that, and he finally did something about it.”

Officials spent $35,000 to purchase the truck from a tiny town in Wisconsin, Jackson said. The addition will allow his department to increase the number of firehouses with multiple engines from three to five, he said.

Mayor Thomas Koch, who announced this week he’s seeking another term, said he felt the announcement made it “a historic day” in Quincy. Incremental budget increases every year has allowed the fire department to reach its high staffing level, he said.

A decade ago, the city budgeted roughly $18 million for the fire department which had a staff of around 190 firefighters, records show. Annual spending has grown to $28.7 million this fiscal year, and officials expect there to be 242 full-time firefighters next year.

“We have a set of values here that we govern by, and public safety is one of the most important,” Koch said. “We continue to grow as a city, so if we’re growing as a city, we should appropriately grow with the departments serving the city.”

The Quincy City Council last week filed a home rule petition that seeks to give the fire chief the power to appoint retirees as “special firefighters” who’d work detail assignments.

Rich MacKinnon Jr., president of the Professional Fire Fighters of Massachusetts, is challenging mayors and town officials across the state to follow Quincy’s lead in investing in their respective fire departments.

Many fire unions are grappling with what they say is a reluctance from city and town officials to adequately fund their departments. In Westwood, the union has gone more than 670 days without a contract.

“Other mayors, town managers and selectmen need to put a priority on public safety,” MacKinnon said. “Oftentimes we see cities and towns think they cut here or cut there, but a little cut to public safety has major effects on public safety.”