HALES CORNERS — This spring, several communities across Southeast Wisconsin will ask voters to send more of their hard-earned money to the government in the name of expanding public safety.
Referendums are on the ballot in Germantown, Cedarburg, Grafton, Saukville, Port Washington, Jefferson, and the Town of Delafield.
With all of these referendums up for voters to consider, we wanted to check in with a local community where, just last year, a public safety referendum failed. So, TMJ4's Ryan Jenkins went to Hales Corners.
"It failed by just four votes," said Hales Corners Fire Chief Peter Jaskulski. "They prevented us from being able to hire 2 more full-time firefighters."
When a public safety referendum narrowly failed in Hales Corners in 2023, it meant new challenges for Chief Jaskulski.
"Our referendum would've helped us increase salaries," he said.
The lack of voter support meant the tax level wouldn't increase by $784,680 to hire and retain emergency services personnel. That's a big challenge for a department where full-time firefighters are starting with a salary of about $59,700 and part-time firefighters are making between $14.50 and $18.00 per hour.
"My full-time staff will still look to other departments because they can make more money," said Jaskulski.
In the community, people TMJ4 News asked, said they support raising taxes to support police and fire. However, they say the votes aren't the solution to the problems for a few reasons.
"More funding should go into police and fire departments and things like that," said Steve Nowak. "I don't know if a referendum will do anything about that because a lot of people aren't applying for the job."
Another woman, who wished for her name to remain anonymous, said "I don't know how many people are really getting the right news these days and being able to make a good judgment. So, I think they give up and they stay home and they do nothing."
Chief Jaskulski said educating voters is the key to success. He points out the low voter turnout at the informational meetings that were open to the public last year.
TMJ4's Ryan Jenkins: "Do you wish more people would show up to these meetings?"
Chief Jaskulski: "I do," he said. "I had several people, probably about three or four, who came up to me afterward and said Chief, I came in here and I didn't like the fact that you guys were going to raise the taxes by that amount of money, you should be going to the state, blah, blah, blah, they have all this extra money.' But they said, 'Once you explained it, I'm going to vote for it because now I understand."
A reminder to stay informed when reflecting on referendums.
TMJ4's Ryan Jenkins: "Is it less safe if these referendums are not passed?"
Chief Jaskulski: "I don't want to say less safe. But, what I would say is that the quality of service is a bit different."
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