Haven’t seen this anywhere else, but it will important to Lakewood residents if a tax hike referendum ends up on the ballot.
Found this in the minutes of the Lakewood Village Board’s July 14, 2026, meeting:
PRESENTATION OF FIRE PROTECTION SERVICE
Historical Background, Current Status, Financial Analysis, and Long-Term Considerations Memorandum
President Stavropoulos reviewed the documentation provided, stating it was an attempt to memorialize the history as it relates to fire protection service, cost and challenges.
“Concern to address a direction led to a consensus of the Board to prepare an outline to proceed towards a tax levy referendum.“
The agenda packet from the July meeting points out that fire protection costs have grown substantially more than property tax revenue.
One suggestion was joining with the Crystal Lake Rural Fire Protection District’
.A 1993 referendum for qtoo join passed 348 to 305.
State law, however, required the Fire Protection District to to approve the annexation, which did not occur.
Should a referendum pass to join the FPD, there would be a new tax, freeing up real estate tax referendum for other purposrees.
The tax rate for current FPD District is about 73 cents per $100 of assessed valuation.
