Bloomingdale Fire referendum sparking voter support
With 100 percent of precincts counted early Wednesday, voters appeared to favor a Bloomingdale Fire Protection District referendum seeking additional tax dollars for more equipment, vehicles and facilities.
Unofficial vote tallies showed yes votes totaling 2,869 and no votes totaling 1,458.
Problems with the DuPage County Election Commission's counting system slowed the counting of ballots in Tuesday's election and prevented a full tally being available until early Wednesday.
The fire district asked for $518,000 in additional property tax revenue each year for the next 10 years. The tax increase first would be applied to 2018 taxes, payable in 2019. It would follow a one-year decrease of about $40 for the owner of a $300,000 house, which occurred because a tax-backed loan approved in a previous vote had been repaid.
The property tax increase was intended to bring taxes back to the district's 2016 level by returning the same $40 to the bill for the owner of a $300,000 house. The total amount owed by the owner of a $300,000 house is estimated to be $661.
Fire Chief Jeffrey Janus said the new money would not be used on personnel, salaries or pensions.