The Chicago Tribune has an article about a consultant’s recommendation that several DuPage County fire districts and municipal fire departments should consolidate services.

Fire departments in DuPage County should consider consolidating or sharing services as a way to save taxpayer money, a consultant recommended today.

The recommendation was made by the firm Crowe Horwarth in the latest round of audits of DuPage County agencies whose members are appointed by the County Board chairman.

But Crowe Howarth expanded its reach on the topic of fire district consolidation to include not only the county-appointed districts but all fire departments in the county, including those operated by municipalities.

“Consolidation, shared services, and best practices discussions should include all districts and municipalities providing fire protection service within the county,” the audit report says. “The majority of these bodies were not within the scope of this (audit); however, significant county-wide savings can be achieved through such efforts, and further study is necessary.”

County Board member Grant Eckhoff, R-Wheaton, has spent three years pressing for consolidation of the county’s fire protection districts.

“There is too much government,” Eckhoff said. “We simply cannot continue to afford the services we have at the same taxes, and if we don’t find better ways to deliver local, county and state services, taxes are going to go up.”

Cronin called the fire districts “one of our best opportunities to achieve consolidation at the local level.”

Of the nine districts whose members are appointed by the County Board chairman, six are “paper” districts with no infrastructure that instead collect property taxes and contract with neighboring fire departments for fire protection and emergency medical services.

Many serve unincorporated areas.

The entire article which also looks into the DuPage Airport Authority and DuPage Emergency Telephone System Board can be found HERE.

thanks Chris

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