April 03 -- The New Lenox Fire Protection District is negotiating a deal with the village to reopen the fire station that closed Friday because of budget cuts following a failed referendum for a tax rate hike, officials said.
New Lenox Fire Chief Adam Riegel and Mayor Tim Baldermann confirmed that the village and district will consider an intergovernmental agreement in their upcoming meetings this month in which the village will provide the fire district with a no-interest loan until the end of the year to reopen Station #2 at 1205 N. Cedar Road.
Fire officials said they have no choice but to ask voters again for a rate hike in the November general election.
Under the proposed plan, the village would loan the fire district $450,000 to keep the station opened until the end of the year, Baldermann said.
"(The loan) would be paid back whenever a referendum passes, not just in November," Baldermann said. "If that never happens, there's a good chance the district goes bankrupt, then the are bigger problems."
The village loan would come from money in a property tax refund, which would be a 50 percent refund, instead of 75 percent, Baldermann said.
"Obviously this is a short term solution. This would get us to November," said Riegel, who has not seen the details of the agreement. "Hopefully, we can pay it back without causing more (financial) damage later. Hopefully, we can work out something that will help everyone."
"The voters will have to make the ultimate decision," Baldermann said.
In the March 20 primary, a referendum to increase the fire district's tax rate to 59 cents from 38 cents per $100 of equalized assessed valuation was defeated by 212 votes, Deputy Chief Dan Turner said.
The fire board also voted to issue $750,000 in Tax Anticipation Warrants and cut four firefighter/paramedic positions.
The NLFPD has not had a tax rate increase since 1989, but has tried to pass referendums five times over the past 12 years, in 2006, 2009, 2011, 2014, and March 2018, according to district information.
"This is a matter of public safety. Everyone is concerned about this," said Baldermann, adding that he is "confident" his board of trustees would agree to the loan.
The village board will review the proposal for the first time at its April 9 meeting and give community chance to discuss it. If the fire board of trustees agrees to it at its April 16 meeting, it could be approved by the village board April 24, the mayor said.
Riegel said Baldermann reached out to fire officials last Thursday after the announcement to close the station was made "to see if they could do something to help us."
On Monday, the mayor announced on FaceBook that he is working on a deal to reopen the station, explaining that the funds would come from property tax revenues paid by village residents, which make up 55 percent of the population served by the fire district.
"That doesn't matter to me. These are people's lives we are talking about," Baldermann said. "This is an immediate public safety issue — not just for the north side of town. It effects the entire community."
Riegel agreed.
"Anytime you reduce manpower or equipment, it could adversely affect the entire community," he said.
Baldermann said it also does not look good for the community to have a "shuttered fire station."
"We want to see the north side develop, and it does not bode well to tell developers that the closest fire station is out of business," he said.
The mayor said he met with fire board President Skip Minger last week and "asked a lot of questions."
"I felt confident that they were trying to do the right thing. Clearly there is a need (for a tax rate hike)," he said.
In his FaceBook post, the mayor said he does not like to get involved in the affairs of other taxing bodies, and stressed that the village has "no control" over the budgets or the decisions of the state, county, township, school, library, fire or park districts.
"We work well with all of these agencies and feel they do a good job, but they govern themselves," he wrote on FaceBook.
"We are not in a position, nor should we be, to provide anything more than temporary assistance," he wrote. "We are only considering this measure because it is a matter of public safety."
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