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Board debates SAFER staffing options, fund‑balance use and referendum timing
Summary
Trustees and SAFER board members discussed whether to fund additional firefighters through referendum, one-time TIF/TIFF proceeds or incremental use of fund balance; no formal vote was taken. Staff said uncommitted funds were just under $1.3 million and warned against using reserves for ongoing operations.
The Weston Village Board spent the meeting reviewing staffing options for the regional SAFER emergency response after a failed April referendum, weighing whether to seek another referendum, use one-time funds from a TIF closure or apply limited fund balance to hire additional personnel.
Administrator Jamie Gabbert and Finance staff told trustees the village’s uncommitted general fund balance was just under $1.3 million and noted policy preferences to reserve those funds for capital items rather than recurring operating costs. A SAFER memo shared with the board estimated, all else equal, about a $150,000 annual increase to operations for additional staffing scenarios; trustees discussed options to add three versus six firefighters and clarified that hiring three additional personnel would not create three complete 24-hour shifts (three hires equals one person per shift, not full coverage).
Trustees discussed possible partial solutions: using TIF closure proceeds (staff estimated an approximate $503,000 return in a preliminary estimate that includes modest growth assumptions) to cover one-time costs and possibly fund three additional positions, while reserving the option of a later referendum for ongoing staffing. Several trustees cautioned against repeatedly drawing down fund balance to cover recurring payroll because that practice simply “kicks the can” to future budgets.
The board did not take formal action but requested further financial modeling and coordination with partner municipalities that share SAFER costs; staff noted Rib Mountain and other partners must be involved in any staffing commitments. Trustees asked staff to return with refined numbers and a timeline for any referendum or budget adjustments before the August deadlines for ballot certification.
