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Bergheim fire treasurer asks Kendall County for $1.12 million to expand paid staffing
Summary
Bergheim volunteer fire department asked Kendall County commissioners for a $1,120,480 FY2027 allocation — about a 102% increase over last year — to move from a largely volunteer force toward a 3‑FTE paid staffing model and to support training, uniforms and payroll services; the department said the change improved response times and ISO ratings.
Bergheim volunteer department Treasurer John Long told the court the department is seeking $1,120,480 for fiscal 2027 to support operations and a new paid‑staffing model that would raise the department's total request to roughly double last year’s county allocation.
“This is a total of $1,120,480,” John Long said, summarizing the request and noting it represented an increase he calculated as about 102% over prior year funding. Long said the request would support moving from two full‑time equivalents (FTEs) to three, a $1 per hour pay increase for part‑time staff, payroll and accounting costs, uniforms for part‑time personnel and a $36,000 line to support a 2‑in/2‑out staffing model for firefighter safety.
County commissioners questioned the size of the increase and asked whether the department could phase in hires. The Bergheim representatives said a phased start date (for example delaying the third FTE until later in the fiscal year) was feasible if the court preferred to spread costs over time. The department also described service‑area growth, automatic aid agreements (which the presenter said improved ISO ratings), and recent incidents where paid staffing materially affected outcomes: one midnight response was reduced from 26 minutes to 13 minutes in a lightning‑strike garage fire, and a separate incident saw an eight‑minute response that officials said limited damage.
Treasurer Long acknowledged Bergheim had not yet completed an independent audit but said the board had engaged an accounting firm for bookkeeping and aimed to be audit‑ready for calendar 2026. He said the department had scanned invoices into QuickBooks and was preparing reconciliations to support an audit, and he committed to sharing audit results with the county once complete.
The court did not vote on the request at the special meeting; commissioners directed staff to include the request in the next‑day budget work and asked for options that could reduce immediate impact on the county's operating budget (phasing, delayed start dates or partial allotments).
