Voters reject Oswego Fire Protection District tax hike referendum for a third time

For the third time in less than two years, voters in the Oswego Fire Protection District have rejected the agency’s request for a property tax hike to help fund its operations.

Unofficial vote totals released late Tuesday night show the referendum going down to defeat 10,690 “no” votes to 9,384 “yes” votes--a margin of 1,306 votes.

The ballot question asked voters to approve a 0.10% increase in the district’s property tax rate.

Currently, the owner of a home valued at $300,000 annually pays about $600 in property taxes to the fire district. If the referendum had been approved, that same homeowner would have seen an increase of about $99 to their tax bill.

Voters narrowly rejected the district’s initial tax hike request in an April 2021 referendum and then again this past June 28 by a one-vote margin of defeat.

The sprawling fire protection district covers a 53-square-mile area of northeast Kendall County and northwestern Will County.

The district includes all of the village of Oswego and unincorporated Boulder Hill, along with portions of Montgomery, Yorkville and Plainfield.

Population growth is the driving factor for the referendum.

Fire district officials point to the thousands of new homes and businesses that have been built in the district since it last won voter approval of a referendum in 2002.

Two decades ago, the fire district served a population of about 27,000, but now serves nearly 70,000 from four stations: two in Oswego, one in Montgomery and another in Plainfield.

The district responded to more than 6,000 calls in 2021 compared with 2,000 calls in 2002.

“The growth continues significantly in our community and the cost of apparatus and equipment continue to rise,” according to a news release from the district.

*Shaw Local News Network reporter Mark Foster contributed to this story.