By Marie Rohde
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Copyright 2007 Journal Sentinel Inc.
GLENDALE, Wis. — Glendale has asked the leaders of the other six communities that oversee the North Shore Fire Department to consider changes in the department’s funding formula that would reduce Glendale’s cost by $380,000 a year, Mayor Jerome Tepper said Tuesday.
If Glendale were to contract with the City of Milwaukee for fire and emergency medical services, their departure from the North Shore consortium would cost the other six communities an estimated $949,000 a year.
A direct comparison of how much each option would cost Glendale is being prepared by City Administrator Richard Maslowski and is expected to be mailed to Glendale residents within the next few weeks, Tepper said. Public information meetings will be held in March, and then city residents will have the opportunity to voice their opinions in an advisory referendum that will be placed on the April 3 ballot.
The North Shore Fire Department, formed in 1995 after more than a decade of debate, serves Brown Deer, Bayside, Fox Point, River Hills, Whitefish Bay and Shorewood along with Glendale. Two years ago, Glendale served notice on the other communities that it was considering leaving the consortium because the funding formula was consuming almost all of the money Glendale could raise in extra tax dollars because of state-imposed levy limits.
The motion was withdrawn, but Glendale has been negotiating with Milwaukee, and Tepper has asked for a change in the funding formula. How much each community pays is now based on population, use of services the previous year and property value.