ELMHURST, IL – Addison Township may assume control of the fire district that covers unincorporated areas between Elmhurst and Bensenville.
In an interview Friday, Dennis Reboletti, the township's supervisor, said the township could save taxpayers' money by taking control of Bensenville Fire District No. 1.
The "paper" fire district has been without fire trucks and firefighters for more than three decades.
It pays two other agencies – Elmhurst and Bensenville Fire District No. 2 – to protect the unincorporated area. District No. 1's only job is to send annual checks to the two entities.
Yet the overhead for doing so is more than $30,000 a year, which includes $1,000 in salaries for each of the three board members.
In budget year 2021, the district's payments to the other entities amounted to $234,508. Another $31,139 was spent on overhead, including $4,530 for secretarial and printing, $2,229 for dues and postage and $2,195 for insurance.
Professional fees, mainly payments to the district's lawyer, amounted to $16,874. The postage may have resulted from the district's mailing of a fake "official ballot" in 2021.
The District No. 1 board has drawn its share of drama. Its contract controller, Paul DeMichele, last year admitted to using public resources to promote a fundraiser for an Elmhurst politician, which is against the law, according to a state's attorney's report.
In the interview, Reboletti said he has tried since he was a state representative years ago to place the fire district under the township. The township already appoints the district's board members.
Reboletti said he would again approach lawmakers to support the consolidation.
"We would be providing oversight over those 600 homes. We already represent 90,000 people," Reboletti said. "We're an elected board. We're accountable. We're professional."
He said the township can perform many of the fire district's administrative functions at a lower cost. It could save on the $3,000 in board members' salaries and the money going to the lawyer for handling public records requests, which the township could take care of, he said.
"Our employees would undertake the work over at the fire protection district. There would be no additional cost," Reboletti said.
He said two of the three members support a consolidation. He would not identify which member was opposed.
The objector is likely Paul Guerino, a retired teacher who lives in Elmhurst.
In the state's attorney report, Guerino said Reboletti was trying to put the fire district under the township's umbrella. He said Reboletti wanted access to the district's budget to comingle its money with the rest of Addison Township's funds, the report said.
Guerino told the investigator he vocally opposed the consolidation.
Guerino and the other board members, Mark Nowak and Jeff Agonath, couldn't be reached for comment.
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