What Happens When You Won't Pay for Government
By Kevin Robinson in News on Mar 24, 2014 9:45PM
In what might be a sad first for Illinois, the Palatine Rural Fire District is moving forward with plans to sell advertising on their two public safety vehicles. "We're kind of in a desperate situation here," Chief Hank Clemmensen told the Daily Herald. "The money we get from these ads will be critical to our operation, unfortunately." The lack of funding for fire departments nationally has become such a problem, in fact, that a former firefighter, Chad Drogos, started a company to handle ad revenue on emergency vehicles. Drogos's company, which handles the negotiations and sale of outdoor advertising on behalf of fire departments.
As population and property values have declined in his district, Clemmensen's had to look at alternative ways to fund the district's fire service. Last week voters rejected a proposed property tax increase by a vote of 611 to 517. Even if voters had approved the measure, he says, the district would still be looking into selling ad space, which is expected to bring in only $25,000 a year. “I was optimistic and thought it would have passed based on all the comments we got back from meetings we attended,” he told the Journal and Topic newspaper. “We knew it was going to be close. No one likes a tax increase and the vote was fairly close. It is just disappointing.” Clemmensen said that while he can't speak for the Township Board, he thinks they might try to pass the tax increase again.
While not directly related to funding issues, a fire department in Tennessee has established a fee-for-service model. Residents living within a certain geographic boundary but outside of the corporation limits of South Fulton have the option to pay an annual $75 fee for fire service. Unfortunately people that don't pay the service can't access fire protection for their homes. The Palatine district, which covers 17 square miles, serves the eastern two-thirds of Inverness and unincorporated areas of Palatine Township.