2024 Fire & EMS Tax Referendum Information

Overview

The Delafield Town Board voted unanimously at the Tuesday, January 10th Town Board meeting to approve a resolution to present a referendum on the April 4, 2023 Spring Election ballot.  The referendum will ask Town taxpayers to increase the Town’s levy by $470,000 for the 2023 taxes (to be collected 2024) to increase funding for the Lake Country Fire and Rescue department that services the Town of Delafield. The increase will be used to retain 7 full-time firefighters and EMS staff, and to retain 7 additional staff in 2024. This comes at the request of the fire department, who have seen increasing response times, and staffing shortages over the past year.  The question will be on the April 4, 2023 Spring Election ballot. The increase equates to an additional $142.30 on a tax bill for a home assessed at $500,000. 

Fire/EMS Response Times

The Lake Country Fire and Rescue has seen an increase in response times from 2021 to 2022 of 34%. The American Heart Association recommends an EMS response time of 8 minutes or less to respond to patients with cardiac arrests or heart attacks. LCFR's response times are averaging over 11 minutes and are trending higher. The biggest culprit of these increasing response times is due to lack of staff to cover shifts. One of the main stations LCFR operates out of is being forced to close 50% of the time, due to lack of staffing. The referendum will help to provide more full time staffing to the department to reduce or eliminate closures, and regain those ideal response times. 

Full-Time Staffing Model

Fire Departments across the country have been experiencing staffing shortages. This is due to many fire departments still operating under a part-time, paid on call, or volunteer staffing models. The demand for these part-time employees is extremely high, with few people willing to work under the demands of a paid on call employer. More and more communities are shifting their departments to full-time. The problem most departments are experiencing is the lack of funding to make the transition. 

Funding Concerns

Wisconsin imposes levy limits, which determine what amount municipalities can tax their residents. Currently, the Town maintains the lowest tax rate in Waukesha County ($1.44 per thousand assessed). The Town can only increase its taxes by an approved referendum by the voters. Residents will be asked to vote for an increase in the total tax levy by $470,000 on the April 4, 2023 ballot to address the staffing issues from the Lake Country Fire and Rescue consortium.

What Would Reflect on Your Tax Bill

The information below illustrates the impact the proposed referendum will have on tax bills in the Town of Delafield.  The table below shows the monthly and yearly additional cost based on home values.   

Impact of the $470,000 proposed tax levy increase for the Fire Department.

Increased Cost per Household

Compared to Other Municipalities

The comparison below shows the tax levy rates of neighboring communities compared to the Town of Delafield, including the proposed tax levy rate with the referendum totals (marked in blue). The Town will continue to be one of the lowest tax rate in Waukesha County with the passing of the referendum, second only to the Town of Ottawa.

Town Tax Rate Information

The Town of Delafield is the lowest taxed municipality in Waukesha County with a mill rate of $1.44 per thousand.  With the approval of the requested tax levy referendum the Town will be one of the lowest taxed municipality in Waukesha with the tax rate of $1.73.  

Notices:

Type A Notice

Type C Notice

Want more information?  Contact your Town Board members or the Town Administrator at 262-646-2398 or email dgreen@townofdelafield.org.