Question of whether to permanently merge Amboy, Harmon fire departments on Nov. 5 ballot

AMBOY – Lee County voters on Tuesday, Nov. 5, can choose whether the Amboy and Harmon fire departments’ merger will become permanent.

The Amboy Fire Department on Jan. 14, 2024, expanded its coverage to include the Harmon Fire Department’s jurisdiction, at least through Dec. 31. The consolidation added 60 square miles to Amboy’s existing 298-square-mile district and serves an additional population of 600 residents in Harmon.

Only 120 square miles of Amboy’s fire district is tax supported. The communities in the remaining 178 have to contract for emergency services. Before the consolidation agreement, Amboy Fire Department Capt. Nathan Shaw said that the Harmon Fire Department was funded through annual subscriptions.

“The department was lucky to get three or four people to pay the subscription,” Shaw said. “It’s no way for a fire department to function, and they weren’t able to support themselves.”

Fire protection districts are independent organizations that can serve multiple municipalities and collect their own tax revenue. Fire departments can be funded through multiple sources, including shared tax revenues, grants, fees, donations and memberships. They also can partner with neighboring fire departments to consolidate resources and offset costs. Shaw said November’s ballot question would pull Harmon into Amboy’s fire district.

“The other upside to this is that the tax increase that our district can impose is capped at 1.049%,” Shaw said. “We would have to get a referendum and vote for us to raise taxes. If some other district takes Harmon in, we can’t guarantee how much they’ll raise taxes. You might go from paying pennies to paying hundreds of dollars.”

The AFD operates with about 50 paid members who respond to about 500 emergency incidents per year. Given the low number of calls the AFD receives from Harmon, Shaw said it is currently not feasible to permanently station one of his firefighters at the Harmon station.

“On average, we get about three fire calls and maybe 15 ambulance calls a year out there,” Shaw said.

According to Shaw, the department is focused on getting more people to help man the Harmon station.

“I believe they have two people out in the area that can respond if we needed a medical call,” Shaw said. “We have a nontransport vehicle staged out there that they can grab and be there before we do. Currently, our response time from our department to Harmon’s is about 14 minutes.”

Voting

Early voting at local election authority offices opened Sept. 26 and continues through Monday, Nov. 4. Voters can cast their ballots from 8:15 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Nov. 2.

According to the Lee County, Illinois, website, residents can cast their 2024 election ballots at the following polling locations:

• Ogle-Lee Fire Station, 311 Main St. in Steward
• Amboy Community Building, 280 W. Wasson Road
• Mills & Petrie Building, 704 N. First St. in Ashton
• St. Mary Parish Hall, 2530 Johnson St. in West Brooklyn
• Compton Village Hall, 766 state Route 251
• Franklin Grove Village Hall, 105 E. South St.
• Elks Lodge, 1279 Franklin Grove Road in Dixon
• Holloway Center, St. Patrick Church, 612 Highland Ave. in Dixon
• Loveland Community Building, 513 W. Second St. in Dixon
• Bethel Church, 125 North Court in Dixon
• Masonic Friendship Lodge, 1409 N. Galena Ave. in Dixon
• Harmon Community Building/FireStation, 104 E. Main St. in Harmon
• South Dixon Township Building, 1558 Dutch Road in Dixon
• Ellice Dinges Center (south entrance), 202 S. West St. in Sublette
• Northside Baptist Church, 598 River Lane in Dixon
• Paw Paw Community Building, 362 Chicago Road in Paw Paw