Measure follows recommendations from “Planning for a Safer Future”
community engagement process
BRAIDWOOD, Ill. — The Braidwood Fire Protection District (BFPD) Board of Trustees voted during its regular meeting on July 21 to place a 32-cent property tax increase proposal on the Nov. 3 ballot. If approved, the measure would need a simple majority to pass.
The decision follows recommendations developed as part of “Planning for a Safer Future,” a community engagement process launched in February that brought residents, community leaders and district officials together to study the district’s staffing, equipment, facilities and long-term financial needs.
Over the course of four community workshops held between February and May, attendees at each of the sessions worked alongside a volunteer Facilitating Team and BFPD leadership to review the district’s call volume, response needs, aging apparatus, staffing levels and finances. At the final workshop in May, participants identified a 32-cent tax increase, which will provide funding to hire more full-time firefighters, replace out-dated firetrucks and ambulances and provide funding to ensure long-term financial stability, as their recommended path forward. They also agreed that doing nothing was not an option.
Fire Chief Chris Jude said the proposal reflects needs the district has been managing for years without additional revenue.
“We have not asked voters for a tax increase in more than 50 years,” Jude said. “In that time, our call volume has grown, our equipment has aged, and it has become harder to compete with neighboring departments for qualified firefighters and paramedics. This proposal gives us a way to address staffing, equipment and long-term financial stability together, instead of chipping away at one problem while the others get worse.”
Thomas “TJ” Sforza, a Braidwood resident who served as a community co-chair of the Planning for a Safer Future process, said the recommendation came directly from residents who took part in the workshops.
“This wasn’t the district telling residents what they needed — it was residents sitting down, learning the facts, and coming to their own conclusion,” Sforza said. “People in this community respect our firefighters and paramedics, and they made it clear they didn’t want to leave this department underfunded and understaffed. I’m proud of how our community showed up to be part of that conversation, and I think this ballot proposal reflects what we heard from them.”
According to district officials, the additional revenue would go toward hiring more full-time firefighter/paramedics, replacing aging apparatus and equipment, and building long-term financial stability for the district. Officials estimate the increase would cost the owner of a $300,000 home about $6 a week.
District officials said they plan to continue sharing information with residents ahead of the Nov. 3 election, including details on how the additional funding would be used. Materials from the Planning for a Safer Future process, including workshop presentations and summaries, are available online at braidwoodfire.org.