Almost three weeks since the election, the tax hike on the ballot for the Oswego Fire Protection District looks like it may have been voted down by just a single vote, although final results have not yet been certified by the state.
“I have never seen a referendum this close,” Kendall County Clerk Debbie Gillette said.
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The district is mostly in Kendall County, with a small part in Will County. Kendall County is the agency of record between the two counties for the referendum.
The election was June 28 and the counties had to wait two weeks for mail-in ballots to come in to arrive at the final unofficial totals.
Fire district officials were hoping a tally of about 100 mail-in ballots would push the “yes” vote on the tax increase over the top. However, election officials in Kendall and Will counties have released unofficial final vote totals showing voters coming out against the measure by one vote.
The votes have yet to be canvassed and certified, election officials from the two counties said.
Both counties will officially canvass the votes on Tuesday. The results will then be submitted to the state and canvassed on July 29 to make them official.
According to totals in both counties, the “yes” votes came to 4,149 and the “no” votes came to 4,150.
Voters in Kendall County actually cast 4,145 ballots in favor, while the “no” votes were 4,133. The votes from the northwest quadrant of Will County actually pushed the referendum the other way. There were four “yes” votes and 17 “no” votes in Will County, according to election officials there.
“People need to remember that every vote does count,” Gillette said.
A couple of votes could have made a difference, she said.
“If you chose not to vote for it at all, your vote could have made a difference in this particular election,” Gillette said.
The voter turnout in Kendall and Will counties was similar to the 2018 primary election.
“The voter turnout in Kendall County was what we had to expected,” Gillette said.
In 2018, the voter turnout for the primary election was 21.02%, with 21.5% turnout in 2022. In Will County, voter turnout was 19.49% in 2022 and in 2018 it was 22.21%
If the tax hike was approved, it would have increased 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 the referendum question for a tax increase on the summer ballot amid a growing need for service, officials said.
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, officials said as far as the need for the tax hike.
Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
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