Kendall County court agrees provisional funding for volunteer fire departments and two 24/7 pilot staffing programs

Kendall County commissioners on Wednesday provisionally adjusted allocations for volunteer fire departments and agreed to fund two pilot 24/7 staffing programs, but asked fire leaders and county staff for performance metrics and a legal review before any long-term commitments.

The court agreed to adopt the departments' requested operating allocations for several volunteer departments and to budget two pilot programs — for the Comfort and Bergheim volunteer departments — at the same level, after county staff added required payroll-related costs. Corinna, a county staff member, reported that the payroll and workers' compensation adjustments bring each pilot package to $384,873; the court confirmed the $384,873 figure by consensus.

Why it matters: Commissioners said the pilots are intended to reduce volunteer fatigue, improve coverage and buy time to study longer-term options (such as an ESD or county employment). Several commissioners and county staff said they want clear metrics, monthly reporting and legal review before committing to a permanent funding model.

The court spent much of the workshop reviewing department-by-department volunteer budgets and reserve adjustments. Corinna explained that the Fire Inspection Fund (Fund 43) is supported only by inspection and permit fees and does not use general tax dollars. On the volunteer allocation line items, the judge and court favored recording actual…