PORT WASHINGTON, Wis. — One municipality in Ozaukee County is asking its taxpayers to vote and possibly pay up in order to add more firefighters.
This comes after Port Washington has seen a dramatic increase in calls for emergency services over the last decade. It's a nearly $1.2M initiative first responders say is crucial.
"I support the referendum, totally," David Frank said.
"When you need somebody to come if you had a heart attack or whatever, you want it as fast as it can be," Joe Postl echoed.
Residents of Port Washington are in overwhelming support of the referendum and want to see more firefighters in their city.
"Well I'm on the police and fire commission, so I see what's happened," Jim Biever said.
What's happened is more people live in Port Washington and continue to move there, its population is aging, and overall, more people are calling 911.
City data shows from 2012 to 2022, calls for emergency services went up more than 50 percent.
"I'm a Marine Corps medic from the Vietnam era. I understand the importance of emergency care and training, and when you need it you need it," Frank added.
Port Washington isn't the only municipality in our region that's seeing an increase in emergency service calls and a need for first responders. Grafton, Cedarburg, Saukville, Germantown, Delafield and Jefferson all have referendums on the April ballot.
If the referendum passes in Port Washington, tax payers will see a $91 increase per $100,000 assessment value. So, for the average household of $235,000, you'd pay about $213 annually, which is about $4 weekly.
However, not everyone is on board with paying more taxes.
"I just feel there's other ways to fund this instead of putting it on our tax rolls. Sounds like a problem for the state to help fund this, this problem," Stewart Seidel said.
Seidel's concern is one we've heard from voices across southeast Wisconsin with similar referendums.
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