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Antioch fire station re-opening planned after tax hike OK'd

The Antioch Fire Department plans to reopen a third station after voters approved a tax hike to pay for ambulance service.

"Now that we have some certainty, we're moving forward," Chief John Nixon said Wednesday. "We can untie our hand from behind our back."

While those plans will proceed, officials at the First Fire Protection District, the taxing authority for the department that serves Antioch and Antioch Township, were less certain of the outcome.

The margin of approval in the unincorporated area was only eight votes - 867 in favor and 859 against the tax hike. Since 32 ballots were requested by mail and it is unknown how many will be returned, the outcome theoretically could change.

Trustees are feeling optimistic about the outcome though it's still uncertain, said Matt Tabar, a fire district trustee.

"We're still sitting on pins and needles here," Tabar said.

While the official total won't be tallied for two weeks, Tabar said he expected to know Friday how many of the ballots were returned.

"It is close but numerically it could make a difference," he added.

That's not the case in the village, where voters approved the tax hike 1,273 to 933, according to unofficial totals. The department serves the village and unincorporated area, which split the department costs, and the same question was put to voters separately.

Village officials had said if the tax hike was rejected, the only option would be continued budget cuts, which would have affected services such as road repairs.

While the approval won't affect the current budget, the arrival of new tax revenue next year hopefully will allow the village to pursue more capital purchases and projects, according to Village Administrator Jim Keim.

"We're very appreciative of the support the voters have shown," he said.

Both results represent a reversal from last November when voters in each jurisdiction rejected a tax hike to pay for ambulance service. Approval means the owner of a $170,000 home in the village or Antioch Township will pay about $142 per year in additional property taxes.

The tax is expected to raise $1.5 million per year, although neither entity will receive any funds for a year. The district plans to borrow money to be backed by the anticipated taxes to proceed immediately with service improvements.

Station 3 on Grass Lake Road operated from May 1 to Dec. 1, 2014, but was closed because of financial concerns. The fire district has been using reserves to pay for staff, while the village made budget cuts and shifted money from its general fund to cover costs.

Nixon said the plan is to open Station 3 by the first week in May. The goal is to be able to arrive at the scene of any emergency call in the 36-square mile coverage area within six minutes, he added.

"We'll get staffing contingencies up and ready to go," he said. The district is staffed by paid-on-call personnel and no full-time positions are being created.

He credited an intense public information campaign that included weekly open houses at fire stations and in-person and online informational meetings with the vote reversal.

"After the November election, we took a look at what we could have done better. The thing that stood out was we didn't educate our voters well enough about the need and what the funds would be used for," he said.

"It certainly is very humbling to see the community come together and support us to help us help them."

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