HOWARD (NBC 26) — The Village of Howard held a press conference on Tuesday to encourage voters to vote yes on a public safety referendum that will bring massive change to the community and is the first of its kind in Brown County.
The referendum will increase police and fire protection and fire-based emergency medical services for Howard residents.
The urgency for the referendum comes from the growing population of Howard, which has increased 35% in the past few years. However, its public safety services haven't been able to match the growth.
In fact, according to the village, Howard Fire Rescue is almost 26% understaffed.
"The whole thing about not having firefighters in the building at night from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m., I think people think we do, but we don't," Paul Evert, Village of Howard Administrator, said.
As a result, response to emergency calls are coming from on-call staff from off-site locations, and this increases response times.
One of the top priorities of the referendum is decreasing these response times.
If the referendum is passed, Brown County Sheriff Todd Delain said it will add a second full-time patrol car accessible for the village and help the full-time, seven member Firefighter-Paramedic crew respond to emergencies more quickly.
Evert said taxpayers can expect to see a $33 dollar increase for properties valued at $100,000, but the net spending per capita for the village would still be below the state average.
The net spending per capita would go from about $90 per capita to $100 per capita for police services and $60 per capita to $80 per capita for emergency medical services.
The referendum will be on the ballot for the election on April 4. Delain encourages residents to follow this community issue.
"That's what the village is doing...spelling it out and really providing an opportunity for the citizens to decide 'Is this important to me?'"
