Capron Rescue donates ambulance to village in Guatemala
Oct. 25, 2013
By Bob Balgemann
Reporter
POPLAR GROVE - A retired Capron Rescue Squad ambulance is getting a new lease on life.
The 2006 unit has been donated to Hearts in Motion (HIM), a Christian organization based in Munster, Ind., which serves needy children and families in the United States, Central and South America.
The organization, formed in 1990, plans to place the ambulance in a village in Guatemala that, according to rescue squad officials, is 90 miles from the nearest medical care.
Squad member Quinn Murphy has personally visited the region where the ambulance soon will be put back into service. He has traveled there with HIM, helping provide medical treatment to those in need.
It was Murphy who suggested that the ambulance be given to that village. He's currently a full time paramedic with the Woodstock Fire Department, who works part-time for the Capron squad.
Tony Stepansky, assistant chief of the squad, said he checked out HIM and found it to be "a worthy organization."
He said the ambulance has a 2006 front-end and a 1999 back-end, the latter in need of work. HIM will take care of any needed repairs and plans to fly a paramedic to Illinois in the coming weeks, who in turn will drive the ambulance to Guatemala.
HIM was organized by Karen Scheeringa-Parra, who has 11 adopted children, one of them from Guatemala. Its mission is to provide care and medical treatment for children and families in need.
For Stepansky, it's a bittersweet time because he responded to calls in the 2006, also known as Old 19, for about three years. "I guess I'm sentimental about 19," he said. "Fundamentally, it's a good truck. It's neat to know it will continue to make a difference in people's lives."
Trying to keep the moment light, he added, "There's not a lot of demand for a 2006 ambulance with electrical challenges in the back end."
The gift was approved in a 5-0 vote of the rescue squad district board of trustees as its Oct. 15 meeting. The board formally declared the ambulance as surplus and to be a donation from the district to HIM.
Now all that's left is to wait for HIM to send someone to perform the necessary repairs and for the paramedic to come to get Old 19.
Stepansky is hoping Murphy will be able to accompany the ambulance to its new duty station.
Auditor: Belvidere Township 'in good financial condition'
Oct. 25, 2013
By Bob Balgemann
Reporter
BELVIDERE - In a time when some levels of government are struggling, Belvidere Township has been given a clean bill of financial health by its auditor, Gary Kuhls.
He presented the 2012-13 audit to the board of trustees Tuesday night (Oct. 22), pointing out that it was maintaining healthy fund balances, or savings, in each of the 11 funds.
There was one that bore watching, the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund, he said. Income last year was $52,000 with expenses at $51,000, he said, adding "With an expected rate increase and payroll increases, this fund will need attention."
The township's equalized assessed value declined by $175 million between 2008 and 2012, he reported.
"Local governments increased their (tax) rates to make up for the lost revenue," he said.
In Belvidere Township, he said the tax burden "is not tremendous," with taxpayers being "treated consistenly" over that period of time. The tax levey decreased a little this year and is expected to go down even more in the coming year. The township's fiscal year runs from April 1 to March 30.
He cited the township for lowering taxes while maintaining healthy fund balances. "Township management has performed responsibly," Kuhls said. "They serve taxpayers and residents of the township well."
The township received an "unqualified opinion," which he said "is what you want." That means no problems were found with the way the township was being run or with the way financial records were being kept.
He gave the township the same opinion last year, when some were questioning why it had such large fund balances.
Township supervisor Pat Murphy said that was to be prepared for major, unexpected expenses. Even now, he said Oct. 22 that "all of a sudden we're getting a lot of requests for general assistance (GA)." There currently are 10 ongoing cases compared with five in all of 2012-13. So far just under $10,000 has been provided in rental assistance.
"That is an unpredictable fund," Kuhls said.
The general assistance fund, usually with a budget of more than $200,000 a year, provides help to qualified people with various living expenses such as rent and utilities.
Murphy also said a burial was pending, the first anyone was aware of. The individual has no relatives and provided "a real test for our GA."
In other action Oct. 22, the board voted 5-0 against providing $750, the amount needed to bring the Northern Illinois Food Bank's mobile food pantry to the Salvation Army parking lot on Main Street in Belvidere.
Township assessor Diann Helnore, who's on the board of the Boone County Homeless Project task force, asked the township earlier this year if it would agree to having a pantry visit in its parking lot at 8200 Fairgrounds Road. That request was tabled and when it came up again, the time had passed for reserving a stop by the truck.
Murphy said he met with the Salvation Army's new local lieutenant about the matter. The township board previously agreed to donate $2,750 to the organization for its ongoing work in the city.
Capron Rescue Squad, Boone County increasing fees
Oct. 25, 2013
By Bob Balgemann
Reporter
BOONE COUNTY - Assessed values are decreasing yet tax bills increase. Groceries, gasoline and other staples of life also are becoming more expensive.
Now dog registration fees and the cost of riding in an ambulance also are rising.
The Capron Rescue Squad, which covers 144 square miles of northern Boone County, decided Oct. 15 to increase a variety of charges relating to the care provided by its paramedics and emergency medical technicians.
That action was taken by the district board of trustees after seeing a comparison of fees with the Watertown, Wis. Fire Department; Johnson Creek, Mich. Fire and EMS service; Beaver Dam, Wis. Fire Department; Delavan, Wis. Rescue Squad; and Salem, Wis. Rescue.
All have paramedics and EMTs on their ambulances. Their coverage areas and levels of service are similar to the Capron operation.
The survey showed that in almost all categories of service Capron's charges were less, on average, than the five used in the comparison.
For example, Capron charges a resident $450 for basic life support, compared with an average $562.50 fee among the five departments. A non-resident pays $550 to Capron, with the five others averaging $654.17.
Capron charges a resident $550 for advance life support care, level 1. That comparison to the $679.17 average among the other five. For a non-resident, the charges are $650 and $775 respectively.
The transportation charge is $13 a mile for residents served by Capron, $13.50 for a non-resident. The average among the five others is $13.42 for residents and $14.96 for non-residents.
Capron charges $50 when oxygen is needed, for residents and non-residents alike. The other departments average $65.
"We're not that bad," Capron assistant chief Tony Stepansky said. "I recommend a 3 percent increase." That would generate an additional $28,988 a year, with $12,270 for 2013 if the adjustment was approved and made effective Nov. 1.
"The impact on the end user would be minimal," he said. "We're not trying to stick it to anyone." He added the last increase, which he described as "slight," came about two years ago.
Here are some sample that are in effec today and what they will be starting Nov. 1: Basic life support, resident, from $450 to $550; BLS, non-resident, from $550 to $650; advance life support level 1, resident, from $550 to $675; and non-resident, from $650 to $775.
Mileage, resident, remains $13 a mile; non-resident, from $13.50 to $14.50. Oxygen usage would increase from $50 to $65.
Dog registration fees
Meanwhile, the Boone County Board has approved increasing the cost of dog registration.
The additional money will not be used to operate the animal control department. The primary purpose is to have a steady stream of income to help construct a new building for the animal control services department.
Higher prices will become effective Jan. 1, 2014.
Here are the changes: altered dog registration, one year, from $20 to $25; three years, from $60 to $75. Non-altered dog, one year, $50 to $55; three years. $150 to $165.
