Lake Country Fire budget gap, City of Delafield thousands short

Lake Country Fire budget gap

Lake Country Fire and Rescue officials say they can’t move forward with their plan to add more staff until one community pays up, the focus of a closed-door meeting Tuesday night, Sept. 26.

DELAFIELD, Wis. - Lake Country Fire and Rescue officials say they can’t move forward with their plan to add more staff until one community pays up, the focus of a closed-door meeting Tuesday night, Sept. 26.

The budget gap has several communities at odds.

"The staffing crisis is real," said Edward Kranick, Town of Delafield chairman. "It’s not something that’s made up. We need people to respond to these calls."

Kranick sounded the alarm bells about staffing concerns within Lake Country Fire and Rescue. Seven communities share fire protection services, and not all of them agree on how to pay for it.

"I don’t believe the City of Delafield is following through with their agreement," said Kranick,

Kranick said the City of Delafield is coming up $300,000 short. The money would be used to cover Chief Matthew Fennig’s staffing plan to add 23 people over four years.

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"To this day, we’ve received no negative feedback on the plan," said Fennig.

Fennig said the plan was agreed upon by the LCFR board in November 2022, with the expectation each community would pay its fair share. Fennig said the budget gap means only seven people can be hired.

"There should not be a surprise," said Tom Hafner, Delafield city administrator. "The city did not go to referendum for the full amount the Lake Country Fire & Rescue wanted."

Hafner said voters approved a $450 annual fire fee for homeowners to fund LCFR.
With it, Hafner says the city is contributing 40% more toward LCFR's budget.

"We should be working toward getting to the goal he’s established, but resources are not unlimited," said Hafner.

Fennig said he had to close this station 30% of the time in August because of a lack of staff. Fennig said that impacts response time and strains resources at other stations like the Town of Delafield.

Lake Country Fire & Rescue

Kranick said the six other communities shouldn’t have to shoulder that burden through fire protection or funds.

"I’m not going to renegotiate a worse deal for my taxpayers," said Kranick. "The City of Delafield needs to close the gap, and we need to get on the chief’s staffing plan."