Posts Tagged Antioch tax levy for EMS

Antioch makes cuts to fund EMS

Feb 1

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News | 3 Comments

Excerpts from the Lake County News-Sun about Antioch EMS costs requiring budget cuts throughout the village.

The cost of funding emergency ambulance services in Antioch without dedicated tax revenue has resulted in deep budget cuts across the village’s departments, services and programs.

On the public safety side, trustees agreed to reduce police overtime spending by $50,000 and the fire department will close its station on Grass Lake Road, officials said. Downsizing to two fire stations is projected to save Antioch $87,900, officials said.

In addition to putting all road improvement projects and equipment purchases on hold, the budget cuts will take $24,450 from the Public Works Department, $8,865 from the clerk’s office, $38,470 from community development and $1,200 from finance. The Village Board also removed $50,000 from the budget that previously was granted to the senior center.

According to village leaders, the budget cuts are directly tied to voters rejecting a referendum in November that would have set an ambulance tax.

“There’s only so much money coming in,” Antioch Mayor Lawrence Hanson said. [He] explained that the village and the First Fire Protection District are trying to make up for the $1.5 million it costs annually for ambulance services in the village and unincorporated areas.

Another tax request referendum is planned for April and village leaders are prepared to cut another $92,410 if that measure fails. Hanson said those savings would come from administration, police, community development and finance departments. Another $100,000 will be saved by cutting employees, he said. There were 103 village employees (in 2009). Now there are 67.

Hanson said the village had a $2 million deficit when he took over as mayor in 2009. Since then, he said, the Village Board has been focused on bringing spending and revenues in line.

But that was before the village was hit by the added cost for ambulance services, created when the Antioch Rescue Squad folded.

The Fire Department previously staffed 11 firefighters on duty at all times. The cuts will reduce that number to eight — four manning each station — in covering the 36-square-mile service area.

thanks Dan

Tags: Antioch FIre Department, Antioch Fire Department to provide EMS to village residents, Antioch First Fire District, Antioch loses request for ambulance tax, Antioch Mayor Lawrence Hanson, Antioch tax levy for EMS, Antioch to close fire station, First Fire Protection District of Antioch

Antioch to reduce staffing

Dec 3

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News | Comments off

From the Antioch FD website:

Beginning with work shifts on Monday December 1st, the Antioch Fire Department has reduced the number of personnel from 11 to 8 personnel on duty. This staffing reduction is in line with necessary budget adjustments in the wake of the failed ambulance service referendum in the Village of Antioch and the unincorporated area of the First Fire District. The immediate impact of this action is that Fire Station #3 will not have a duty crew on duty. Residents are instructed to call 911 in an emergency and avoid driving to a nearby fire station for assistance. The 8 person assignment consists of 4 duty crew members at Station #1 located at 835 Holbek Drive and 4 duty crew members located at Station #2 at 700 Deep Lake Road. Each station will respond with a fire engine or an ambulance to cover the 36 square mile service area as required by the nature of the emergency. Call back personnel will be requested to report back to duty for larger scale incidents or multiple call situations.

thanks Dan

Tags: Antioch FD to reduce staffing, Antioch FIre Department, Antioch First Fire District, Antioch loses request for ambulance tax, Antioch tax levy for EMS, First Fire Protection District of Antioch

Antioch looking at tax referendum for EMS

Mar 29

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News, Fire Service News | 3 Comments

The Daily Herald has an article about a new tax levy to fund EMS operations in Antioch.

Antioch-area officials say they will streamline the area’s emergency services by creating a new unified fire and rescue operation and ask residents to help fund it. The proposal, which could be launched within two months, would put the Antioch Fire Department in charge of all fire and rescue services covering the village of Antioch and Antioch Township. It would be overseen by a new five-member emergency services board.

A key component is creating the area’s first tax levy for emergency services. Antioch Fire Chief John Nixon said members of the area’s fire safety commission are beginning to meet with village and township leaders about placing a 25-cent property tax rate referendum on the November ballot. If the referendum lands on the ballot and is approved by voters, the owner of a $150,000 home would pay about $140 annually to fund the new operation, Nixon said.

The measure would include separate questions for village and township voters, and approval of both would generate about $1.6 million annually for the fire department, he said.

The proposal from the fire safety commission — made up of township and village officials — would overhaul the confusing system of fire and rescue services in the Antioch area. Currently, the First Fire Protection District of Antioch, the Antioch Rescue Squad and the Antioch Fire Department share responsibility for providing emergency medical service in the 37-square-mile area.

The fire district covers fire calls in the village and the unincorporated areas of the township. Rescue calls are split between the fire department in the village and Antioch Rescue Squad in the unincorporated areas.

Next steps call for village and township boards to sign an intergovernmental agreement naming the Antioch Fire Department as the sole provider of fire and rescue service in the area. The five-member emergency services board would replace the current three-member First Fire Protection District board, Nixon said. That new board — made up of appointed representatives from the village and township — would oversee the fire department operation.

The same intergovernmental agreement would require the village and township to provide any additional funding needed above and beyond the tax levy proceeds.

The fire department would staff three stations to create an overlap of coverage, officials said. Two stations are in the village, which generates 65 percent of the fire calls. The third station on Grass Lake Road would serve unincorporated areas in Antioch Township.

Currently, the village, township, insurance companies and private fundraising donations cover operating costs for the three emergency agencies serving the area. Nixon said it’s impossible to continue funding fire and rescue operations that way.

Antioch Village Administrator Jim Keim said the village pays about $66,000 a month to Metro Paramedic Service to staff village-owned ambulances at the Antioch Fire Department and to handle rescue calls. The village recoups about 50 percent of the total cost from the patients or insurance reimbursements, he said. The difference, he said, falls on the local government to fund.

“We need to find a way to fund this,” Keim said. “Until then, it will put stress on the village’s general fund and a shortfall will exist.” One casualty of the overhaul was the Antioch Rescue Squad (ARS). The First Fire District announced last week it would not renew a contract with Antioch Rescue Squad, ending their partnership. The contract expires in May.

It’s the latest loss for the 75-year-old volunteer-based group beset by problems that have undermined its influence and importance since May 2012. Nixon said the rescue squad operated as a subcontractor for the fire district, and the service wasn’t renewed. ARS Chief Brian DeKind said Friday the group will now shift its focus to community paramedicine, including wellness checks and home health care.