VOTE YES
Braidwood Fire November 3 Referendum
Vote Yes
•
November 3
•
Vote Yes • November 3 •
Doing our part to protect what matters by keeping our fire district ready to respond.
Right now, when a serious call comes in and every crew is already out, there is no one left to send. That's not a hypothetical — it's happening today, and it will keep happening until we fix it.
On November 3, voters across the Braidwood Fire Protection District get one chance to change that. The referendum asks residents to invest an additional $6 per week to keep our firefighters and paramedics staffed, our equipment safe, and our district financially stable. Braidwood Fire hasn't asked voters for a tax increase in more than 50 years — in that time, calls have doubled, equipment costs have more than doubled, and the district is losing trained firefighter/paramedics to neighboring towns that pay more. We are out of time to wait.
The Need
is Real
Calls have doubled since 2010, and they’re still increasing
Fire trucks and ambulances are being used past the end of their recommended life because the cost of replacing them has more than doubled in the past 20 years.
Braidwood Fire is losing well-trained, highly-qualified firefighters to other districts that pay more.
State law keeps property taxes, the majority of the revenue BFPD receives, from keeping pace with the increasing cost to operate a fire district.
Keeping BFPD Ready to Respond
It takes two firefighter/paramedics to run an ambulance and four to run a fire truck — one bad accident or one cardiac call can put every crew on duty out of service simultaneously. When the next call comes in, sometimes there is no one left. We need additional full-time firefighter/paramedics needed to close that gap now, not after something goes wrong.
Protecting What Matters
This district covers neighborhoods, farmland, the Kankakee River, Braidwood Lake, Interstate 55, and freight rail lines — and much of it has no fire hydrants, meaning water has to arrive by truck every single time. Our trucks and ambulances are aging out. Equipment that fails in the field isn't a budget problem, it's a safety problem — for firefighters and for the people they're trying to reach. We cannot afford to let that equipment fail before we replace it.
Doing Our Part
It’s been more than 50 years since BFPD has asked us to approve a tax increase. State law caps what the district can collect, while costs keep climbing anyway — that's exactly how this gap opened, and only a referendum can close it. Even with this increase, Braidwood Fire's tax rate stays among the lowest in Will and Grundy counties. This is our one shot in over half a century to fix it before it becomes a crisis instead of a choice.
The bottom line
For about $6 a week, voting yes will add firefighter/paramedics, replace outdated trucks and ambulances, and stabilize the district's finances for good. Vote yes is about ensuring that when you or a family member calls 911, a well-trained firefighter who knows our neighborhoods and streets shows up with the equipment they need to handle your emergency.
You can click here to use the BFPD tax calculator to see what your household will be investing to keep our fire district ready to respond.