Rural fire tax rate hike makes ballot: Hike needed to save firefighters’ jobs, city officials say

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STERLING – Whether rural residents will pay significantly more for their fire protection will be put to a vote.

The Sterling Rural Fire Protection Board received about 880 signatures from voters in the rural district, exceeding the 464 needed to put the referendum on the Feb. 2 primary ballot, board attorney John Miller said Wednesday.

How much rural 
district would pay 
to be determined

The district seeks to raise the amount it could levy to 30 cents per $100 of equalized assessed property value. The current maximum levy is 12.5 cents, and the rate paid this year was 12.37 cents.

The rural district, which includes Emerson, Galt, Como, Indian Ridge, Prairieville and their environs, has about 4,000 properties,

By comparison, city residents pay 29 cents per $100 of EAV for their fire protection.

The city wants the rural board to set the levy at 28 cents per $100 of EAV, which would mean about $48 more a year for the owner of a $90,000 house.

In September, the city laid off six firefighters and closed the Lynn Boulevard substation as part of a $775,000 budget cut.

A week later, the firefighters union and the city came to an agreement in which firefighters accepted reduced health benefits and limited furloughs.

The city and the union also agreed to support an increase in the rural fire protection tax rate.

City Manager Scott Shumard has said raising the rural tax rate would stave off more firefighter layoffs, and give the city a committed funding source.

“A failure of the referendum would leave Sterling Rural at the lowest rural fire rate in Whiteside County and severely inhibit the city’s ability to continue to afford fire protection to the rural district at current service levels,” Shumard said Wednesday in an e-mail.

“Property taxes are only a portion of the revenues that support the fire service, in addition to other general fund revenues such as sales and income taxes, both of which are down this year ...

“The city is working with even fewer revenues and higher expenses ... and no increase to the rural fire levy will require that much more in cuts. Ultimately, the council will again have very tough choices to make in prioritizing and passing next year’s budget,” Shumard wrote.

Firefighters union President Matt Laughlin said he has mixed emotions about putting the question to the voters.

“I’m glad to see the democratic process will have it’s day,” Laughlin said. “[But] where were the rural taxpayers [seven] months ago, when the city of Sterling was planning to charge them 12 cents per $100 of EAV for less services?”

The city’s contract with the rural fire board expires in June and if the referendum is defeated, it could affect contract renewal negotiations.

One thing the city might consider, Laughlin said, is subscription fees, in which homeowners pay monthly fees for fire protection.

If a homeowner chooses not to subscribe, the fire department would still respond, but the homeowner would be billed a larger amount for the service.

The union will get involved in the campaign leading up to the referendum, he said. “We have to, our jobs rely on it.”

Larry Brandon, 66, of Hopkins Township, and 15 to 20 other people, gathered about 750 signatures.

“People are angry,” Brandon said. “They want to say something about their tax increase.”

Brandon said people who supported the increase, but were still willing to vote on it, and people who didn’t want to pay more signed petitions.

“It’s the American way,” Brandon said. “That’s what we’re all about; it’s voting on taxes instead of having them sneaked in the back door.”

Brandon, a retired electronics engineer, went door-to-door gathering signatures. “I met a lot of nice people, people struggling ... on a fixed income, people who can ill afford what they’re asking for, and people angry because this is being rammed down their throats.

“A lot people that feel that rural district is just scapegoat of the squabbles between Sterling and the firefighters.”

Brandon said he hasn’t yet decided how he will vote.

“I hate to think my mind is so closed, I would vote against it, that’s not true. I want to evaluate it,” he said.

“If the fire board buckles down and uses facts and figures and show [the district is] not paying it’s fair share, then they’ll have better luck.”

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