Fox River & Countryside Fire/Rescue wants tax increase

Receiving fire protection and ambulance care will get more expensive in the Fox River and Countryside Fire/Rescue district service area if residents approve a tax increase on the April ballot.

District President Jim Gaffney confirmed Tuesday evening that trustees met at 8 a.m. last Saturday and approved a resolution to put a tax increase question before voters. Gaffney said district staff members are still crunching the numbers the tax increase would generate, but the money will fund salaries for emergency workers and a new fire engine. Gaffney said the first year of the proposed tax increase would add about $45 to the property tax bill of the owner of a $100,000 home. But that's just in the first year.

"I don't want to get too far into it yet because we are still crunching the numbers," Gaffney said. "But we're going to do it on a step increase over five years. It will start at $45, and each year it will go up. We felt that was a fair way to do it."

The first three years of the tax increase would fund salary increases and personnel costs for district staff. The fourth an fifth year of the increase would see the district sock away money to pay for equipment upgrades, including a new fire engine."

Gaffney said the retirement of some of the district's bond debt in 2018 will offset a portion of the proposed tax increase, but he wasn't ready to discuss exactly how much.

"We'll get all the information out soon," Gaffney said. "I just want to make sure all the numbers add up."

This district has a 38-mile coverage area. It spans parts of St. Charles, Campton and Wayne townships as well as parts of Kane and DuPage Counties. Sections of the villages of Wayne and Campton Hills fall within the district's boundaries.