South Jacksonville board weighs fire truck lease, service fees, park issues

South Jacksonville residents could see changes in fire protection costs and coverage as village leaders look for a way to replace an aging aerial truck without buying a new one outright. Trustees weighed a possible lease arrangement and a search for a used truck, a signal that the village is trying to keep firefighting equipment in service while avoiding the price of a brand-new ladder truck.

The issue is not abstract in South Jacksonville. Village President Dick Samples said the current aerial truck failed state inspection, and he said the truck is needed for the hotels on the south edge of the village. Earlier coverage also said Fire Chief Rich Evans Jr. told trustees the department’s only ladder truck had been taken out of service as a ladder truck after the platform developed rust and would not pass inspection.

The discussion came during the Village of South Jacksonville Board of Trustees committee-of-the-whole meeting scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Village Hall on April 16. The agenda listed three discussion items: Parks, Proposed Fees Ordinance and Fire Truck Lease. No action was expected at that stage on the truck item, which left trustees in discussion mode as they compared options and costs.

Money was part of the same conversation. WLDS reported trustees may consider doubling the rural fire-protection fee to $200, after the fee had gone unchanged for several years. The village fire department says rural fire protection is available to people outside the corporate limits, so any fee change would reach residents beyond the village core as well as those inside South Jacksonville.

The board also discussed repairs and improvements at Godfrey Park, linking emergency services, fee policy and park upkeep in the same budget conversation. That mix matters in a village where the fire department’s 2025 board minutes say it ended the year with 626 calls for service, a workload that underscores why leaders are treating the truck replacement as an operational necessity.

The funding debate has already been put in front of voters. South Jacksonville residents rejected a proposed fire protection district on March 17 by 15 votes. One report said the district would have generated about $475,000 a year, with officials estimating the tax burden at about $4.20 per $1,000 of equalized assessed value, or roughly $126 a year for a home with a $30,000 assessed value. With that option gone, trustees are looking at leases, fees and other stopgap measures to keep fire protection in place.