Tax rejection clouds Fox River & Countryside district's future

The fate of the Fox River & Countryside Fire/Rescue District appears more tenuous than ever following yet another rejection of a tax increase by its customers Tuesday night.

Unofficial results showed 61 percent of voters rejecting the tax increase with 28 out of 28 precincts reporting.

District trustees had hoped to double the tax revenue of the district with Tuesday's ballot question. The rejection means the district will continue to be just one or two major equipment failures away from possibly being unable to continue operations. Going into Tuesday, the district had less than one month of operating reserves in the bank.

The ballot question was one of the larger tax increase requests on Tuesday's ballot. If approved, the owner of a $300,000 home would have seen a tax hike of about $258.

It will now be up to the district's board of trustees, which saw the infusion of some new blood Tuesday, to figure out how to fund equipment replacements or contemplate dissolution of the district. Voters elected Thomas Mollenhauer, Kristin LeBlanc and James Wegman as district trustees Tuesday, according to unofficial results.