Excerpts from the DailyHerald.com:
Voters appeared to have backed a measure Tuesday allowing the Bartlett Fire Protection District to raise taxes and avoid service cuts. With 44 of 50 precincts reporting, the referendum had 4,010 “yes” votes, representing 66.2 percent of the unofficial total. The tax hike is estimated to increase the average homeowner’s annual payment to the district to $569 from $469.
A similar measure was voted down by fire district residents in April 2017. Unlike the buildup to that vote, the consequences of another failed request were spelled out in detail last summer before trustees opted to try once more at the polls.
Officials say the number of
first respondersfirefighters per shift would have to be cut from 14 to 11, and one of the district’s three stations would be closed on a rotating basis throughout the year.One of the biggest misunderstandings about the referendum was some residents’ false belief that the district was a department of the village of Bartlett, rather than the independent taxing body it is. In fact, fewer than 6 cents of a property owner’s tax dollar goes to the fire district. The proposal would raise that to only 7 cents.
#1 by Cmk420 on March 22, 2018 - 9:14 AM
Michael – you are correct about Station 2. My father lives a few blocks from that station. It has an engine, ambulance and tender. I also believe it houses a reserve ambulance as well.
#2 by Michael M on March 22, 2018 - 8:35 AM
Will Bartlett purchase a new tanker to replace the 1998 tanker? Will they now be able to put a Ambulance in service at Station 3?
I know Station 3 was built with two separate apparatus bays for fire apparatus and ambulances. Right now the bays that were built for ambulances I guess are just used for storage.
I know that the fire apparatus that is currently at station 3 is the 2008 Pierce tower, the 2000 E-One engine and I believe their brush truck.
Station 2 has the 2010 Pierce a ambulance and the tender I believe.
#3 by cmk420 on March 21, 2018 - 8:44 PM
Austin–You are right; I don’t know what is really going on in Fox River. I only see what is posted here & the comments that are made about it, mostly negative.
I saw something similar happen when the Palatine Rural Fire District separated from the Village of Palatine many years ago. There was a lot of bad blood, but now, there is a very good working relationship between those two entities and Rolling Meadows FD. Is this what is going on between Fox River & St. Charles? Sounds like it, but who knows?
What I do is that there were 1,904 people that think the District is doing something right & should continue. Where did all those votes come from? We don’t know that, but there are people that believe in it. Are you going to call those people delusional??
OK, so the District is mismanaged & it starts at the top; did the residents & businesses go to the monthly Board meetings & say that to the chief and the Board?
So, what happens next? The only people that really know are the ones that are running the District & they probably don’t have all the answers yet. Will they dissolve? Will St. Charles take them back? Will South Elgin jump in & take the Route 25 station? Will Campton Hills start their own department & Fox River will only have the Route 25 station to cover the area needed? All I can really say is this is all going to take time to figure out. Who’s going to cover the district while all this plays out?
Austin–I see you have very strong opinions about this, and I respect that. We are all entitled to them.
(If you want to continue this conversation, let’s take it to the page that has the Fox River post on it. This was supposed to be about Bartlett passing their referendum, which is a good thing!)
#4 by Mike on March 21, 2018 - 8:29 PM
Crank, no we can’t stop “bashing” them. Actually as a firefighter you should be asking the same as the rest of us working. When this failed experiment started their board sold the resident a big bag of lies and bullshit. This guy had a personal vendetta against st. Charles and had opportunity at the taxpayers expense to do this. This has been a failure since day 1 and they have been told by many people that this was a poor decision, one of many made by them. This is not better service, as they have been telling people. Don’t forget they tried to annex part of elburn for money which they still wouldn’t be able to cover that area. This isn’t a union issue or a full time vs. part time issue. This is about quality of service regarding what they had, they promised and what they delivered on.
#5 by Austin on March 21, 2018 - 7:44 PM
cmk420, don’t take this the wrong way, but you don’t know what is going on in the district, others do like myself. First off the total amount of people who voted was around 4,000. Campton Hills alone has 13,000 residents, then add Valley View, parts of Wayne, unincorporated St. Charles, and other rural areas it is well over 25,000 residents who live in the district. So a very, very small portion voted. People obviously ignored the question altogether because of the amount of people who voted for Kane County commissioners in a lot of those districts was higher, or just below what Fox River received.
Here is the simplest answer to your question on why people bash them, most people in the district don’t want them! It was pushed through borderline a secret. People liked the service they were getting, and St. Charles had land for another station by Str. Charles North High school and was looking to buy some land in Campton Hills for a ambulance and possibly a future engine. They blindsided St. Charles, then had the balls to ask them for their tender that at that time was a couple years old. Fox River said they paid for part of it so they should get it. That completely angered St. Charles fire department, and they said you are on your own. They bought some equipment that did not fit the districts needs, but their budget. Today they keep saying they NEED new apparatus, even though no front line apparatus is older then 2010. Sure they have some old reserves, but once again they bought stuff cheap. A good majority of residents want to go back to the way things were. Yes the whole mismanagement left a bad taste in peoples mouths, and people don’t forget that. It is hard to trust a department when they have been bagging for money for years, and doesn’t always follow through with all of their threats. They REFUSE to listen to the majority and refuse to give up this bizarre dream of being independent, which clearly isn’t working.
Yes, they did a better job of getting the word out, but many people who I know who live in the district don’t care. They are hoping for it to be dissolved. The department needs to do a better job of gaining trust of its residents if they hope to survive. I will agree with you that most departments deserve a increase in their share of taxes, however when you paint this picture that the apparatus is falling apart, even though they aren’t that old, people see that. They might have new management, but they still act like the old one. If the apparatus is completely falling apart (remember front line starts from 2010) they need to come out and say hey, old management did not maintain our apparatus, or bought crap and now we have to get new stuff. If that is the truth, just say it. Bottom line they need to dissolve, or try to work out some deal with Campton Hills to start their own department and keep the rest for Fox River Countryside. Frankly there is no reason for Campton Hills not to have their own department. Part of Campton Hills pitch when it was trying to become a town in 2007 was to be self sufficient. So far minus the police department, they haven’t followed through with that promise. This would be a good start.
Cmk, like I said I hope you didn’t take what I said the wrong way, but i have family and friends who live in the district, and they have friends who think the same way. I also use to be a resident of Campton Hills. Like I said earlier in my rant, I am normally for giving the fire department what they want, but in this case I don’t, and I’m not alone.
#6 by cmk420 on March 21, 2018 - 7:03 PM
Alright–for once, can we (as users/followers) of this website, put aside whatever issues we have about how Fox River operates & why they do what they do, and give them some credit. I just read a separate post, on this site, and it says that it only failed by 39 votes! 39 Votes! I have a friend who works there & I saw a lot of what they did, in regards to the residents & businesses they serve, about getting the message out there about the consequences of what will (potentially) happen, especially now that the referendum has not passed.
Again, I don’t work there or live there, but I am a former firefighter/EMT & I think one of the biggest problems, with the fire service today, is the lack of funding for basic services. A lot of the other local fire districts (Bartlett, Bloomingdale, South Elgin, etc.), that had referendums on the ballot, passed theirs. Are they mismanaged?? I don’t think so. Why does it always seem like Fox River gets bashed? Hasn’t most, if all, of the original leaders of the District been replaced?
Look, it’s sad that it didn’t pass, and the future does not look any better for them right now, but let’s try and give them some credit for getting the word out & trying to get their residents the necessary information to make an informed decision.
Sorry to be “on a soapbox,” but that’s my opinion on the matter. Thanks!
#7 by Mike on March 21, 2018 - 2:42 PM
Fox river did not pass. Time for them to close up shop and put this horrible power display at the taxpayers expense to rest.
#8 by Cmk420 on March 21, 2018 - 2:14 PM
From what I have seen, the margin in Fox River was razor thin. While I am not from there, it is still sad to see it not pass.
#9 by Cmk420 on March 21, 2018 - 2:10 PM
Congrats to Bartlett FD on the passage of their referendum. They did their job, getting the information out to the people, and it is good to see the voters choosing to maintain proper Public Safety.
#10 by Brian on March 21, 2018 - 2:07 PM
Morris also passed, believe I saw that New Lenox did not pass.
#11 by Michael M on March 21, 2018 - 1:57 PM
Bloomingdale, Prospect Heights and South Elgin also passed their tax hikes as well. According to this morning tribune Fox river did not pass.