Lake Country Fire & Rescue in need of more state funds, response time increases 34% due to staffing

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LAKE COUNTRY, Wis. (CBS 58) -- In an urgent letter to state leaders, seven municipalities surrounding the Lake Country Fire & Rescue department made a call for more state funds, funds that would help the station's ongoing staffing issue.

"Right now, we rely on part-time, paid, on-call people to fill about 40% of our schedule, and that's where we're struggling," said Chief Matthew Fennig.

The letter was written by the Town of Delafield, Town of Genesee and villages of Wales, Oconomowoc Lake, Nashotah and Chenequa. It states that an increase in shared revenue from the state would substantially help with the department's staffing.

"The state income tax has gone up over the years, the state sales tax, those revenue numbers have gone up over the years but the number of dollars they're sharing with the local municipalities is basically asystolic," said the chief.

He said eight volunteers per shift cover 80-square miles and 28,000 residents. He adds that with a small staff and a big landscape to cover, the response time has increased 34%. EMS calls are allegedly rising due to an aging population.

"Over the past 10 to 15 years, we haven’t really been able to grow to continue to meet the needs of our community," said the chief.

According to the letter, the annual funds the municipalities are asking for would go towards their staffing and operations plan. The department is aiming to add over 20 full-time staffers by 2026.

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