Prospect Heights Fire District Working to Maintain Current Service Levels

PROSPECT HEIGHTS - The Prospect Heights Fire Protection District is asking voters for a four percent increase in the fire district's portion of its property tax bill.

For the owner of a single-family house, the average cost would be around $34, creating around $155,000 additional revenue if approved. The referendum question will be included on the March 20 primary election ballot.

The district implemented two cost-cutting initiatives as income has not kept pace over the years. First, the district's vehicle replacement plan has not been funded since 2009. Instead, vehicle purchases were made with reserve funds. Secondly, the district has reduced personnel by nine people, resulting in fewer firefighters on duty and a significantly smaller administration staff. Since 2013, the district made $500,000 in personnel cuts to balance its budget.

"We need funding to return to our daily staffing to full level," Fire Chief Drew Smith said. "The goal here is simple - we want to maintain the level of service taxpayers have come to expect. If the district had to cut one more firefighter position a day, we would not be able to simultaneously answer two serious calls at once."

The district saw its busiest year in 2017 with 2,140 calls answered. The number of emergencies has grown by more than 400 percent over the last 25 years. This created the need to switch from volunteers to on-call firefighters.

By state law, property tax is the only substantial means of income available to a fire protection district. It is not a part of the city. When property values fell, so did the district's tax income.

The last tax increase referendum was 14 years ago and was approved by voters. In the 74-year history of the district, this is the fifth time voters were asked to raise taxes. All five were approved.

Capital purchases, such as vehicle and equipment replacements, have also been lacking. Since 2009, the funding plan for capital equipment replacements has stalled due to the recession.

Planned expenses exceed the district's current reserves by three-fold, with an aerial ladder truck needed in 2018, a pumper fire engine in 2019, an ambulance in 2020 and station maintenance.

Residents can estimate their tax increase costs by looking at their last tax bill, finding the fire district's charge and multiplying the tax by 4 percent (0.04).

"With less staff, we'd bring fewer trucks, we can't train as much and we can't perform our water supply plan, which is important to a city like Prospect Heights where 70 percent lacks fire hydrants," Smith said. "Unlike a retail business, we must be prepared at any time for a surge in demand caused by a fire or other emergency."