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DuPage OKs funding plan for North Westmont Fire Protection District

A special service area will be established so hundreds of homes near Downers Grove can pay their fair share for fire protection from Westmont.

DuPage County Board members have signed off on a plan to create a special service area within the North Westmont Fire Protection District to raise additional money for emergency response and fire services.

North Westmont is a "paper district" that doesn't have a fire station, equipment or personnel. Instead, it collects property taxes from the owners of 561 parcels and uses the money to pay Westmont to provide services.

But the fire protection district has a shortfall of roughly $60,000 every year. As a result, Westmont residents have been subsidizing the service costs of the district's nearly 2,000 residents.

The special service area will address the funding shortfall by phasing in a new property tax rate for the district over the next five years.

Under the proposal, district residents never will be asked to pay more than what Westmont's municipal residents pay for fire protection and ambulance services, officials said.

"The key thing to remember here is that all we're asking this district to do is pay the same amount that incorporated residents are paying," said county board member Pete DiCianni, adding that most municipalities usually charge nonresidents more.

Joe Rada, a trustee on the fire protection district board, said the panel supports the formation of the special service area by Westmont.

"We believe this is the best, most economically effective and long-term solution for our current situation," Rada said.

He said officials made sure district residents were educated about the proposal. More than 60 percent of them supported the idea in a recent survey.

But because the district is in unincorporated DuPage, the county board had to authorize the creation of the special service area. It will be bordered by Westmont to the east and south, Downers Grove to the west and Oak Brook to the north.

County board members gave their consent on Tuesday.

Board Chairman Dan Cronin said the plan will "work better for residents and provide a sustainable funding model for Westmont now and into the future."

In 2013, a state law change gave DuPage the power to eliminate the North Westmont Fire Protection District and 12 local government entities. The county, however, never took any formal steps to disband the district.

Westmont Fire Chief Dave Weiss says district residents will continue to get "the best service that we've always given them."

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