GERMANTOWN 鈥 The April 2 election date is quickly approaching, and Germantown voters will see a referendum question asking village residents if they would approve a $1,449,468 increase in the property tax levy going forward to add the necessary ten additional firefighter- paramedics and four additional police officers.
The Daily 六合彩开奖记录 reached out to Germantown Police Chief Mike Snow and Fire Chief John Delain to answer a few questions about the upcoming referendum. The questions, and the Chiefs鈥 responses to them, are as follows.
Daily 六合彩开奖记录: What are the next steps if the referendum passes?
Snow: If the referendum passes the remainder of this year will be dedicated to recruitment. We will start by getting information our to the recruit academies. We would use social media to provide information to students looking to enter the profession and to potential lateral candidates. Our primary goal is to increase interest in our profession (that is probably another story in and of itself but this profession is in trouble if we do not make that happen), The positions would not be available until 2025.
Delain: If the referendum passes our next steps are to 1) Create a job posting, and 2) Establish an eligibility list for that position that is approved by the Police and Fire Commission.
Daily 六合彩开奖记录: If passed, what does the timeline for implementation of the referendum look like?
Snow: We still have a number of vacant positions to fill in 2024, we are working very short for now. The shifts will get restructured so that in 2025 minimum staffing levels can increase to 4 officers on both day shift and second shift. The most critical issue we have right now are the staffing levels on those shifts. We could certainly justify increasing staffing levels on third shift but we needed to set priorities. This would not happen immediately in 2025 as hiring and training those four officers would take some time. The increase in staffing on second shift would happen first and we would hope to increase that staffing by spring or early summer. The increased staffing on day shift would likely happen in the fourth quarter of the year.
Delain: The job market for firefighters/paramedics is very tight right now. Our goal is to have full implementation within two years.
Daily 六合彩开奖记录: What will happen if the referendum fails?
Snow: If the referendum is not successful we are certainly left with considerable challenges. The increase in staffing levels will not be able to happen on both shifts for some time. The shortages will need to be addressed through the regular budget process. With state law as it is, and the limits on increasing the property tax levy, it will take a great deal of time. The village would still need to address issues at the fire department and throughout the village.
Delain: If the referendum fails we will need to work with the Village Board to come up with a strategy to get our current staff some relief from overtime, and to work on adding staff through our budgeting process.
Read more of our听2024 spring election previews here.