Germantown votes to place public safety referendum on April ballot

GERMANTOWN, Wis. (CBS 58) -- The Germantown Village Board has voted to include a referendum question on the April 2, 2024 ballots. 

Voters will be asked whether or not they support an increase in the property tax levy to fund 10 additional firefighter-paramedics, and 4 additional police officers. 

According to the Village of Germantown in a release, between 2016 and 2023, the department experienced nearly a 41% increase in calls for emergency services, and nearly 20% of the 2,452 calls for service in 2023 occurred simultaneously. The release says that with 5 personnel on duty per shift, there are not enough staff to adequately respond to multiple emergencies. 

“The demand for emergency responses from the Germantown Fire Department has grown faster than our staffing levels ,” said Fire Chief John Delain. 

“Insufficient staff to do more work puts pressure on our personnel, forces us to make our staff work long hours and rely more often on neighboring communities – all of which can compromise outcomes for those experiencing an emergency.”

If approved by referendum, the fire department will add 10 firefighter-paramedics, which would allow for 7-8 personnel to be on duty per shift.

“The Germantown Police Department is grateful for the ongoing support of the Germantown community,” said Police Chief Mike Snow.

“Our department has worked with available resources to meet the increasing demands of a growing community. Over the past decade the change in the nature of calls for service have increased the need for a response by multiple officers to individual calls. Staffing levels have remained constant while the demand for police response has increased. We continue to explore cost saving measures to fund stop-gap measures which will allow us to immediately bolster our Department while we continue important conversations with our neighbors about the need for additional staffing to ensure GPD can truly meet the public safety needs and expectations of our community.” 

If approved by referendum, the Police Department will add four police officers, which would allow for two additional patrol officers on first and second shifts, the busiest shifts of the day. 

The referendum will ask Germantown voters whether or not they support an approximately $1,449,468 increase in the property tax levy going forward to add the necessary ten additional firefighter-paramedics and four additional police officers. This translates to a property tax increase of an estimated $51 annually, or about $1 per week, per $100,000 in assessed property value. The impact to an average Germantown home valued at $350,000 would be $178.13 annually, or about $3.43 per week, according to the release.