Is a fire department and a fire district the same?
Not really. In Illinois, a fire department is part of a municipal government. In Madison County there are several municipal fire departments such as Granite City, Edwardsville, Alton, Collinsville, East Alton, and Wood River. Municipal departments are accountable to the elected officials of the city such as council members, aldermen, city managers and mayors and ultimately the citizens of that city. They derive their revenue from a variety of sources available to municipal governments. The Godfrey Fire Protection District like others in Madison County such as Glen Carbon FPD, Long Lake FPD, Highland-Pierron FPD and others, are special district units of government, completely separate from the municipalities and/or unincorporated township areas they protect. GFPD is a completely separate entity from the Village of Godfrey with an elected body of three trustees.
How are you funded?
As a separate entity from the village we protect, we have a separate funding mechanism. Due to state law restrictions on sources of fire district funding, over 97% of our funding is through local property taxes. Just two percent is provided through a state tax, and less than one percent is through grants, donations, and fees. Zero percent of all sales tax, state distributive tax, hotel tax, video gaming tax, franchise tax, use tax, motor fuel tax, and telecommunications tax collected by the Village of Godfrey goes to the fire district.
Unfortunately, our main source of funding has no direct correlation to the demand for services by the community. Calls and costs continue to increase but property values have stagnated since the economic downturn in 2007.
Unfortunately, our main source of funding has no direct correlation to the demand for services by the community. Calls and costs continue to increase but property values have stagnated since the economic downturn in 2007.
Since you are primarily funded by local property taxes, what percent of my property tax dollar goes to GFPD?
We strive to provide the best service in the most cost effective manner. Here is a breakdown of where your 2015 property tax dollar went as a property owner. As you can see, only 8.7% of your total property tax payment goes to GFPD for fire/ems/rescue/emergency services. Remember, none of the sales tax you pay in Godfrey goes to GFPD for fire/ems/rescue/emergency services.
Alton Community School District rate: 4.8627 64.2%
Madison County rate: .7073 9.3%
Lewis and Clark Community College rate: .7055 9.3%
Godfrey Fire Protection District rate: .6557 8.7%
Hayner Library District rate: .4396 5.8%
Village of Godfrey rate: .1482 2.0%
Godfrey Township rate: .0587 .8%
Total rate for 2015 tax year: 7.5777 per $100 assessed value
Alton Community School District rate: 4.8627 64.2%
Madison County rate: .7073 9.3%
Lewis and Clark Community College rate: .7055 9.3%
Godfrey Fire Protection District rate: .6557 8.7%
Hayner Library District rate: .4396 5.8%
Village of Godfrey rate: .1482 2.0%
Godfrey Township rate: .0587 .8%
Total rate for 2015 tax year: 7.5777 per $100 assessed value
Why do you call yourselves a "combination department"?
The Godfrey Fire Protection District has both career and paid-on-call firefighters. Currently we have seventeen career, shift firefighters, one chief and ten paid-on-call firefighters. The career firefighters work a rotating schedule of twenty-four hours on, followed by forty-eight hours off. Shift one has six personnel, shift two has six personnel, and shift three has five personnel with one open position due to budget concerns. With two stations, this provides two to three career firefighters on duty at each one. This staffing is supplemented by our dedicated paid-on-call group. Do not let the "paid-on-call" notation confuse you. These members are provided with a small stipend and can essentially be considered volunteers. The entire paid-on-call program costs less than $30,000 per year.
Do you only respond to fires?
Heck no! The Godfrey Fire Protection District is an all-hazards emergency response organization. We respond to not only fires, but also medical emergencies, vehicle accidents, gas leaks, carbon monoxide incidents, hazardous materials incidents, technical rescue situations, lift assists, any any other situation that may require a response from a group of highly trained, professional, emergency responders.
I called 911 for an ambulance, why does a fire truck show up?
Not one single ambulance is dedicated to the 18,000 residents of Godfrey. Ambulance service is provided by Alton Memorial Hospital and Lifestar EMS. These organizations provide service over a large area and sometimes respond to Godfrey with a delay. GFPD provides dedicated first response emergency medical services. Based on a review of a year's worth of calls, we arrive before the ambulance 95% of the time with an average response time of 4-5 minutes. We have state licensed EMTs that can initiate treatment at the basic life support level. We are also working toward providing service at the advanced life support level. We provide this service at no charge.
When you dial 911 for a medical emergency, expect a Godfrey Fire District fire truck with state licensed EMTs on-board. The expertise that they bring is truly lifesaving.
When you dial 911 for a medical emergency, expect a Godfrey Fire District fire truck with state licensed EMTs on-board. The expertise that they bring is truly lifesaving.
Do you have to take a large fire engine everywhere you go?
It depends. When we have enough personnel on duty, we have the flexibility of using smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles for some tasks. When staffing is at a premium, we must use the fire engine. We do this to ensure our personnel are immediately available for anything. Our fire engines are classified as "rescue-pumpers". They carry a wide variety of equipment and can handle anything from a fire, to a medical call, to a car crash. We do not know the time, place, and type of call we will face next, but we will be ready to respond. Check out the apparatus page for a description of our fleet.