New Lenox Fire Station To Close Due To Low Funding

NEW LENOX, IL —The New Lenox Fire Protection District is being forced to close a fire station and decrease personnel after voters in the district rejected a tax increase. The district's Board of Trustees also voted in a $750,000 Tax Anticipation Warrant to keep operations running between April and June, a time period when they'll have no funding coming in.

"Due to the lack of revenue with no sources for new funding, the NLFPD had to make some difficult decisions to keep the district running at a lower cost," the district said in a press release. "To do this, residents will be seeing cuts over the next week to facilities, personnel, and services."

On Friday, March 30, Station 2 at 1205 N. Cedar Rd. will close its doors due to the reduction in firefighter and paramedic positions, which will be cut by four per shift, the release said. New Lenox Mayor Tim Baldermann said the station is closing at 7 a.m.

"It's not good for the community, that's for sure," Baldermann told Patch. "Public safety is paramount to a quality community."

Deputy Chief Dan Turner said in the release that this "is a sad day for our growing community... we are in a time where we should be adding to our staffing due to increasing call volume, but instead we have to do the opposite and make cuts to meet our bottom line." He said the cuts will increase response times.

Baldermann is working with the fire district's Board of Trustees to try to find a way to reopen the station, but these talks are preliminary and details are sparse. "In my opinion, public safety is something we have to support. We can't just kick the can down the road and hope that everything will be okay," he told Patch.

The tax increase was prevented by 52 percent of fire district residents who voted against it. The owner of a $300,000 home could have expected an additional $202 in annual property taxes to New Lenox's Fire Protection District. The owner of a $200,000 home would pay nearly $135 in additional taxes.

"We live in a state, unfortunately, that relies heavily on property taxes. It's tough," Baldermann said. "People don't want to see their property taxes go up any more." He said people are understandably tired of high property taxes.

Turner warned in the release that if the NLFPD doesn't get more funding soon, further cuts will happen. The district is operating on less than half the budget of neighboring towns.

“Our residents deserve the best possible service we can provide,” said Turner. “These decisions were made with heavy hearts, and the task of finding ways to cut the expenses was not taken lightly.”

"The people who voted no are not anti-fire department. They're good people," Baldermann said, noting that people have a right to their opinion and that some may be struggling financially, meaning higher taxes are the last thing they want.

Baldermann wants to get the word out about how crucial a well-funded fire service is to a community. "Come November, we might see a different outcome," he said.

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