If Election Day and early voting numbers hold up, twin referendums in Antioch and Antioch Township will establish a tax to fund ambulance services.
“The vote in the village is pretty secure,” Fire Chief John Nixon said Wednesday, referring to the 58 percent to 42 percent margin in favor among village voters. “That looks like a clear win.”
The township vote, however, remains too close to call as “No” votes appeared to have won the day when all 14 precincts reported Election Day results. Within a couple hours Tuesday night, after early ballots were added to unofficial totals, the ballot question swung the other way with “Yes” votes clinging to an eight vote lead with only provisional ballots and late-arriving votes by mail not included, according to the Lake County Clerk’s Office.
Mail-in votes can trickle in over the next 14 days.
“We don’t know how many mail-in votes are out there,” Nixon said. “We’ll just have to wait and see what happens over the next 14 days.”
Tuesday marked the village and township’s second attempt to implement a tax to fund ambulance services. The need is the result of the Antioch Rescue Squad disbanding amid controversy.
After voters rejected the tax in November, village officials responded by making deep budget cuts to free up money for ambulance services. The cuts ranged from closing Fire Station 3 to canceling the village-sponsored Easter Egg Hunt.
When the referendum is official, Nixon said the village plans to reopen Station 3, which would result in improved response times.
“We’re going to make sure the 36 square miles are properly covered and our goal is to be anywhere within the district in six minutes,” he said.
“We asked for only what we needed and it’s projected to last us for a very long time,” Nixon added. “We will continue to be fiscally conservative with part-time employees.”
The department, Nixon explained, already relies on firefighters and paramedics who make an hourly wage and do not receive full benefits packages.
Calling the vote “a huge accomplishment,” he added that the fire district will still have to take out a bridge loan because the tax money will not come in until May of 2016.
“I’m so pleased the residents saw the need and gave the go-ahead to support it,” he said.
In the Fox Lake area, voters also approved an ambulance tax by a 60 percent to 40 percent margin.
Fire Chief Ron Hoehne said it was a nice reflection on his department.
“We’re all very thankful to our community,” he said. “The vote totals show how well respected the men and women of the fire department are held in the community.”
The ambulance tax was for the unincorporated area only, with the new funds dedicated to emergency medical services. The revenue will also free up the department to upgrade equipment, such as breathing apparatus, the “jaws of life” and other tools. The district also has a fire engine and a tanker truck that are beyond their maximum age recommends by the National Fire Protection Association Standards.
Newport Township’s attempt to raise its tax levy for fire services, however, appears to have been rejected by 55 percent of voters.
Fire Chief Mark Kirchhoffer said before the election that the department needed to replenish capital improvement funds after a second fire station was opened. The goal was to replace aging equipment, including an engine/tanker that was purchased in 1989 and another engine that was purchased in 1995. The vehicles were expected to cost just over $1 million.
“The alternative plan now is just to extend our replacement program. The equipment is old,” Kirchhoffer said. “Everybody’s strapped, we certainly understand that. We just wanted to lay it out there and let people know what we were doing. That’s all we can do. Our assessment went down again this year and costs are going up. We’ve cut all the corners we could.”
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