Why Fox River & Countryside customers may pay more taxes no matter what

Fox River & Countryside Fire/Rescue District customers may have a tax increase coming whether they want one or not.

District trustees will meet Monday night to discuss belt-tightening moves to keep the two existing fire stations operating. But district President Jim Gaffney said even the largest cost savings won't keep the district solvent much longer.

The current proposal calls for eliminating the deputy chief position, cutting all paid- on-call staff and eliminating three full-time firefighter/paramedic positions that are currently empty as a result of staff members finding better-paying jobs.

Replacing an aging engine and ambulances on their last legs would also be deferred for at least a year.

Gaffney said the pending cuts are needed following a tax increase request that voters rejected by a 3-to-1 ratio in April. Without the new money, the district is about $500,000 short of maintaining the status quo and implementing some of the improvements envisioned by the tax increase request. The district has only about $47,000 in reserves heading into the 2016 fiscal year.

“As trustees, we're going to try to keep this thing going forward for as long as we can,” Gaffney said. “But the end result of this course is not going to be good. We believe 24 firefighters is exactly what is needed to handle this community. But if the taxpayers don't want that, we will operate at 21 or 18 or 15. We're just following their directions. But once we get below 15, then it's probably no longer feasible to operate a department.”

The district can only defer replacing equipment for so long. Just one new fire engine will cost about $450,000, Gaffney said. So as the bills mount, the ability to pay them will likely become untenable through staff cuts in about three years. A staff of 21 full-time firefighters will allow the district to operate its two existing fire stations around the clock. After that, trustees aren't exactly sure what the operation will look like just yet. It's also not clear what would happen if the department went bankrupt.

Ken Shepro, the fire district's attorney, said the most likely scenario would be the state fire marshal stepping in, dissolving the district and spreading its territory among the surrounding districts. All of those districts have higher tax rates, in some cases three times as high.

“So our current taxpayers will end up paying more with no guarantee that our two stations would even remain in operation,” Shepro said. “If they don't then everyone will wait an extra five to eight minutes, in most parts of the district, for fire and ambulance response.”

To avoid that and stay open, Gaffney said it's a virtual certainty the district will reboot its tax increase request for the March 2016 presidential primary ballot. In the failed tax increase request, the owner of a $100,000 home would have paid the district $48 more in annual property taxes. The $48 increase would have been spread over five years.

Gaffney said if the tax increase is improved in March, the district wouldn't have a need for another increase until at least 2030.

Last April, Gaffney and the trustees didn't say much about what would happen if the tax increase failed. Gaffney said he has no regrets about that because he doesn't think any such request should rely on doomsday scenarios.

“The trustees never wanted to make any of this sound like a threat,” Gaffney said. “We'll do what the voters want. I understand nobody wants new taxes. This is a tough sell.”