Excerpts from the Kane County Chronicle:
Officials at the the Fox River and Countryside Fire/Rescue District are bracing for critical budget issues caused by the failure of its April referendum, they said.
Board President Jim Gaffney said the district would ask voters for an increase again, this time on the March 15 primary ballot in 2016. Voters defeated the rate hike request by a 3-1 margin in April, records show.
“If it doesn’t pass next March, then we will not meet payroll at all by 2017-18,” Gaffney said.
The board will consider a tentative 2015-16 budget that reflects reduced spending and deferring equipment replacment at its next meeting, 7 p.m. Monday, June 22, at Fire Station Three, 34W500 Carl Lee Road, St. Charles.
Gaffney said the district could be dissolved, but it would have to be by voter initiative.
“Then the state fire marshal comes in and breaks us up, and re-appropriates us into different districts (Elburn, South Elgin, Bartlett and West Chicago),” Gaffney said.
The Fox River district, which formed four years ago, covers parts of St. Charles, Campton, and Wayne townships in Kane and DuPage counties, and sections of Wayne and Campton Hills.
The unaudited 2015 year-end totals show the fire district had $47,877, while the original 2016 budget projections, without cuts, would put the district nearly $500,000 in deficit.
The district cannot replace staff when they leave for better-paying jobs, and has to defer replacement of fire trucks and ambulances, Gaffney said.
A captain, a lieutenant and three firefighter/paramedics left for better paying jobs, Gaffney said. None will be replaced, saving the district $240,000, Gaffney said. But that is not enough to cover the replacement cost of fire trucks at $450,000 and ambulances at $250,000 each, he said.
The fire district’s attorney, Ken Shepro, said equipment replacement is critical.
Starting Wednesday, the district will operate with its remaining 21 personnel, re-arranged in shifts so all stations are covered, with no layoffs.
thanks Dan
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#1 by Mike L on June 19, 2015 - 9:35 AM
Michael M, it was political. That Gaffney guy dislikes public servants (read pensions, unions, etc) and separated the “paper” district that contracted out to St Charles for services to form an actual FPD. Even though they are a contract FPD with low benefits and pay, they still have to pay the FOR PROFIT contract agency more than what they were paying St Charles for better services. While it looks good to vilify public servants these days, the reality is there is little to no cost savings and, such as is here, it actually costs more because the company needs/wants to profit. Once Company A gets too expensive, they merely give the contract to the next low bidder to keep costs down. This amplifies the turnover rate and lack of connection to the citizens they serve; not to mention putting people who lack experience in positions of protecting the public. There are no winners when it comes to these games…
#2 by Michael M on June 17, 2015 - 10:19 AM
That is an unfortunate situation. What was the initial idea behind starting the district anyway? Was it to give better coverage to places like Campton and Wayne which are further away from St. Charles fire stations? Or was it political?
#3 by cmk420 on June 16, 2015 - 9:20 PM
21 personnel??? That’s it?!?!?
What happened to all the part-time/POCs? Are they all gone too because of this money issue?
What’s their command staff/structure like now they lost (and didn’t replace) the one captain and the one lieutenant?
Sounds like a total mess over there now.
#4 by Mike on June 16, 2015 - 8:03 PM
The board should just publicly admit this is a big failure on their part. Then they should disband fox River and contract services back with St. Charles. Once that is done the trustees should all resign because this just shows that they are incapable of managing public funds.