Voters approve Whitewater Fire, EMS referendum

By Kim McDarison 

By a nearly 2-1 margin city of Whitewater voters approved a Fire and EMS referendum, allowing the city’s operational budget to increase beyond the taxpayer-supported, state-imposed revenue cap by $1.1 million beginning this year and into perpetuity. The funding will be used to support 17 full-time fire and EMS employees who will man two ambulances and provide round-the-clock service. 

The referendum garnered voter approval by a vote of 2,476 to 1,379. 

A breakdown of votes by county follows: In Walworth County, voters within the city cast 2,053 votes in favor of the referendum and 1,121 against. 

In Jefferson County, voters living within city of Whitewater Wards 11 and 12 cast 267 ‘yes’ votes and 160 ‘no’ votes. Voters in Ward 13 cast 156 ‘yes’ votes and 98 ‘no’ votes. 

In July, the Whitewater Common Council approved an agreement to bring the city’s then independently operated fire department in house as a city-operated department. 

The change was made to help alleviate increasing difficulties with staffing faced by the department when using a paid-on-call model, Whitewater Finance Director Steve Hatton noted in July. 

With staffing constraints, he said, Whitewater was often forced to seek mutual aid from neighboring departments, putting additional stress on those departments’ manpower and assets. 

Plans associated with bringing the department in house called for the use of a paid-on-premises model, which would improve the department’s response times and improve its ability to recruit manpower, Hatton said. 

The new model would also provide department employees with health and retirement benefits and produce a schedule with more reliable hours, he said. 

In March, the Whitewater Common Council received a presentation made by Whitewater EMS Chief Ashley Vickers. 

Within her presentation, Vickers shared a proposal to increase EMS staffing. 

Additionally, she discussed the EMS department’s growing call volume and concerns with response times using a paid on call staffing model. 

An earlier story about EMS staffing, call volumes and response times as outlined by Vickers is here: https://fortatkinsononline.com/whitewater-common-council-considers-referendum-to-fund-ems/.