Excerpts from nwherald.com:
A legal battle has erupted between the Crystal Lake firefighters' union and city officials over the use of a foreign fire insurance tax fund. The union is now taking the city to court after it canceled a plan that would have allowed firefighters to use the fund for personal items like Fitbits, coffee beans, and gym memberships.
The lawsuit, filed on August 2 by the Crystal Lake Foreign Fire Insurance Tax Board and the city’s firefighter labor union, claims that city officials violated state law by eliminating the foreign fire insurance tax, which brings in more than $60,000 annually. The dispute centers around how the money should be used and who has the authority to decide its allocation.
However, the city council never actually dissolved the tax board or returned the collected funds to insurance companies as claimed in the lawsuit. Instead, they approved a revised version of the ordinance that set the tax rate to zero and agreed to use the remaining $150,000 in the fund until it was fully spent.
Mayor Aaron Shepley accused the tax board of trying to intimidate city council members by providing them with a draft of the lawsuit before an August meeting. He also criticized the board for not updating their legal filing to reflect what actually happened, which only involved setting the tax to zero and using the existing fund balance.
The controversy began when the tax board requested permission to spend the foreign fire tax funds on items that were seen as benefiting individual firefighters rather than the department as a whole. These included Fitbits, duffel bags, gym memberships, and even coffee beans—items the city already provides.
The foreign fire insurance tax was originally meant to support the Crystal Lake Fire Rescue Department, including equipment, training, and certifications. However, recent requests from the tax board raised concerns among city officials about misusing public funds.
Fire Rescue Chief Paul DeRaedt, a trustee on the tax board, expressed concerns over the personal nature of the proposed expenses. “It feels like we’re spending extra money on things we already provide,†he said. In the past, the funds had been used for equipment upgrades, alert systems, and essential firefighting gear.
Despite this, the tax board approved significant spending on gym memberships, Fitbits, and even coffee beans in previous years. Most recently, the board allocated nearly $57,000 for legal services, using up almost all of the annual $61,000 collected from the tax.
According to the lawsuit, the Illinois Municipal League has transferred over $780,000 in foreign fire tax fees to the city since 2003. The tax will collect another $61,000 this fall before being suspended unless an agreement is reached on how to use the funds.
Shepley criticized the current tax board for shifting its stance from previous years, saying it's better for taxpayers if the city avoids these unnecessary expenses. Meanwhile, DeRaedt remains hopeful that discussions between the board and city officials will lead to a resolution.
The union, which is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, is also preparing for upcoming contract negotiations, which are set to begin in the spring. As for future talks on the tax, no official meetings have been scheduled yet.
Thanks, Dan
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