Oswego Fire Protection District officials will have to wait for mail-in ballots to come in before knowing if the tax increase for the district on the Tuesday ballot has been approved by voters.
The outcome is currently too close to call.
The district is mainly located in Kendall County, with a small part in Will County.
According to Kendall County election results, the “yes” votes came to 4,111 – or 50.02% – in the county, while the “no” votes were 4,108 – or 49.98% of the votes. In Will County, where far fewer votes were cast on the referendum, the tally was four voters in favor of the tax increase and 17 against.
That makes the unofficial total at the moment 4,125 against the measure and 4,115 for it.
However, there are still mail-in ballots to be collected and counted in Kendall and Will counties, fire district officials said.
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Oswego Fire Protection District Chief John Cornish has been informed there may be as many as 100 mail-in ballots in Kendall County that have yet to be collected and counted.
Mail-in voters had until Election Day to get their ballots postmarked and there could be a two-week lag time for them to arrive at the county clerk’s office, he said.
“We were hoping for more ‘yes’ votes,” Cornish said. “We appreciate the support that we have. However, we understand in the current climate with inflation and cost of fuel that people have to make decisions that are in the best interest of themselves.
“We are hopeful the mail-in ballots will push us over the top to be successful,” Cornish said.
If the tax hike is approved, it would increase the average homeowner’s fire tax by about $99 annually, based on a home value of $300,000.
Oswego Fire Protection District trustees unanimously approved putting a referendum question for a tax increase on the summer ballot amid a growing need for service, officials said.
“We do not want to take steps backwards,” Cornish said. “The monies would be put forth to ensure that we maintain the level of services that we currently have moving forward.”
The Oswego Fire Protection District covers roughly 53 square miles that includes all of Oswego and parts of Montgomery, Plainfield and Yorkville, as well as some unincorporated areas in Will and Kendall counties.
In all, the fire department protects more than 70,000 residents compared to the approximately 27,000 residents it served in 2002, district officials said.
It has been 20 years since the voters approved additional funding for the department, district officials have said.
The growth of the community and the subsequent demand for services, as well as the increased price of equipment and escalating operating costs, have outpaced current funding, according to officials.
The Oswego Fire Protection District responded to more than 6,000 calls in 2021 compared to 2,000 calls in 2002, officials said.
Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.