Letter to the Editor: Peotone Fire Consolidation

Shall the Peotone Fire Protection District Dissolve and be consolidated into the Manhattan Fire Protection District?
The answer is No!

A close look at the information that has been spoonfed to the public by the Peotone and Manhattan Fire Districts will show you that the benefactors are not the taxpayers. The positive spin that has been put on this is at best a gentle backrub, telling the Peotone taxpayers they will benefit from reduced taxes and better services. There is no proof provided to show that is true, and I have found no solid financial information by way of a Proforma projecting what this will cost taxpayers in ten years or more. The presentation materials provided a warm and fuzzy for the reader, but not much else.

What is worth examining is the pension outlook. From both districts there has been a revealing of the pension funding, which show that Peotone is paid up, over-paid in fact, and has a nice surpluss to cover the longterm liabilities expected when keeping the committment to the loyal firefighters. Manhattan on the otherhand has pension money shortage of approximately $1.1 Million (if you use the numbers provided in writings and in charts.) They have provided two different estimates of the pension shortages at either 77% or 85% out of the reqired 100% needed to meet the taxpayers’ liability to the firefighters. (See the slide at 1:59 in their presentation: https://www.peotonefire.org/content/consolidation/)

I do not believe the merger is a good idea at this time. I believe that Manhattan taxpayers have to pay off their own pension debt before a merger can occur. Otherwise the Peotone taxpayers will be taking on the pension liability for all the pension shortages in the newly merged organization.

The fact that Manhattan has attempted to sell this idea to Peotone concerns me that there may be other anomalies. The citizens of Peotone should demand a third party audit of the equipment and inventories of both districts, before making this merger decision. There is no assurance that the equipment is sound and in good condition, and could be another surprise expense down the line.

Peotone taxpayers should demand more from their leaders. Why should Peotone citizens pay off their debt? I think I now understand why Manhattan wants this merge.

Sincerely,

William Towler