Excerpts from the Daily Herald:
Citing concerns over aging equipment and insufficient staffing at fire stations in unincorporated areas, officials from the Fox Lake Fire Protection District are set to ask voters for a tax increase next month.
Chief Ron Hoehne explained that the main issue is the need to hire at least three additional full-time paramedics and increase funding for vehicle maintenance due to an 8% rise in emergency calls last year. Currently, each station has two paramedics per shift, but with three shifts per day, they’re struggling to maintain minimum staffing levels. Adding one paramedic per shift at the Molidor Road station, he said, would help meet those needs.
The proposed referendum on April 7 asks voters to more than double the property tax rate for ambulance services in the district, increasing it from $0.133 to $0.350 per $100 of equalized assessed value — a 21.7-cent increase. For a home valued at $100,000, this would result in an annual tax increase of about $72. If approved, the district expects to generate roughly $850,000 in new revenue in the first year.
However, residents in the village of Fox Lake are not included in the vote due to a three-year contract. The fire district serves 33,000 people across 30 miles, but the referendum only applies to the 22,000 residents outside the village limits.
“We’ve had the same ambulance tax since 1978,†Hoehne said. “This is the first time we’ve ever asked voters for more money. But we’ve reached a point where we have no choice.â€
Home values in the district have dropped significantly since 2008, leading to declining tax revenues. The district’s equalized assessed value fell from $580 million in 2008 to $396 million in 2013. At the same time, emergency call volume has continued to rise.
“We had to use our limited reserves just to make it through last year,†Hoehne said. “We’re running a break-even budget now. But if something major happens or we face a big equipment failure, it could be devastating.â€
The district currently operates 26 vehicles, and maintenance costs are rising as the fleet ages and usage increases. With the proposed tax increase, the ambulance rate would align with neighboring communities like Fox River Grove, Long Grove, Lake Villa Township, and Lake Zurich.
Thanks Dan & Ron
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