Endorsement: Antioch Fire Protection District referendum

'Yes' to fire protection tax hike

Since 2005, voters in the Antioch Rural Fire Protection District have twice voted down proposals to increase the tax rate. On Feb. 5, fire district officials will ask again. You might ask, how much clearer can the voters be? How many elections does it take? At some point, shouldn't you live within the tax limitations the electorate has set? Up until now, the district has managed to do that quite well. Officials built their second station for $1.6 million in 1999 and their third station for $1.8 million in 2002 without a tax increase.

The district has relied entirely on volunteer firefighters. Paid on-premise volunteers staff the stations -- one in the village's downtown, one on Grass Lake Road and one on Deep Lake Road -- but the district doesn't have the money to keep firefighters at the ready 24 hours a day. When help is needed, paid on-call volunteers rush in from wherever they are.

And that is why, in a real sense, somebody in the district might not be able to live within the current limitations. Growth -- and the traffic that comes with it -- means there are more homes to protect. And it takes longer to get to them. And if your call for help comes when the nearest station isn't staffed, it will take even longer. And in an emergency, even a couple of minutes can make a difference.

The district wants to increase the tax rate to 40 cents per $100 of equalized assessed valuation. The current rate is 18.5 cents for $100 EAV. That means that the owner of a $200,000 home would see the district's part of the tax bill jump by about $80 a year. The money generated -- the district's budget would go from $650,000 to about $1.4 million -- would allow officials to staff all three stations, eventually around the clock.

The politics of repeated referendums is questionable. But the necessity of the investment of new tax dollars is not. We recommend a yes vote.