New Lenox Fire District Pays Off Loan From Village

NEW LENOX, IL — The New Lenox Fire Protection District has finished paying a $450,000 loan from the Village of New Lenox, which was given in 2018 in the wake of a failed referendum and budget cuts.

Fire Protection District Board President Skip Minger presented a $250,000 check to the Village Board at Monday's meeting.

"Two years ago, we paid you $100,000, and last year we paid you $100,000," Minger said. "And tonight, I want to give you a check for a quarter of a million, and we're done."

In 2018, the fire district had to make several cuts due to low funding. The Village stepped in with a loan for $450,000 to help the district. In late 2018, the district was able to pass a property tax increase via a successful referendum.

"We've been able to make a lot of accomplishments since then," Fire Chief Adam Riegel said.

Six firefighters were hired in the last quarter of 2019, and six more firefighters were hired in the first half of 2021, Riegel said.

"In 2020, we had 4,736 calls, which was a 15 percent increase in calls from the prior year," Riegel said. "Every year in the last five, except for 2019, where we saw about a 3 percent decrease, we've had anywhere from a 5 to 15 percent increase in calls."

Two frontline engines and two ambulances have also been replaced using money from the tax increase, Riegel said.

"The fire protection district has been a good partner to us as well," Mayor Tim Baldermann said. "This is not a one-way street."

Baldermann said the quick pay-off of the loan was "good, responsible government."