STE. GENEVIEVE – Some of you may have seen a recent press release issued by six Fire Departments located in Ste. Genevieve County regarding potential changes to the provider and funding for fire protection services within Ste. Genevieve City and Ste. Genevieve County.
The Ste. Genevieve City Fire Department currently provides fire protection services within the City limits and in the immediately surrounding rural coverage area. The City has historically been able to provide the necessary funding to sustain the fire department. However, the ever-increasing costs of equipment & repairs, firehouse maintenance, insurance, Personal Protective Equipment (for firefighter safety) and other necessary operational expenses, the City is struggling to maintain the level of fire protection services our residents and businesses deserve. The county Fire Departments are similarly experiencing an increase in the operating expenses associated with providing necessary services in their respective coverage areas.
To address these financial issues, the Ste. Genevieve City Fire Department and county Fire Departments originally planned to consolidate and create a county-wide fire protection district. Unfortunately, as mentioned in the earlier press release, if the Ste. Genevieve City Fire Department joined with the six county Fire Departments, the Insurance Services Office (ISO) rating currently enjoyed by the City would potentially change from a 4 to a 6 per information provided by the ISO auditor. A higher ISO rating indicates a lower likelihood of a property being destroyed by a fire, which results in lower insurance rates. As this could result in as must as a 10% increase to a resident homeowner’s insurance premium, Ste. Genevieve City Fire Department could not in good faith present the request to our residents to support a county-wide fire protection district. Nonetheless, a tax-supported fire protection district will provide the additional funding necessary to maintain the level of fire protection the residents have come to expect.
The April 2025 election will allow (1) voters within the area currently served by the Ste. Genevieve City Fire Department to approve the formation of the Ste. Genevieve Fire Protection District and (2) voters within the area currently served by the six Fire Departments to approve the formation of the Ste. Genevieve County Fire Protection District.
If successful we hope to use the additional funds to:
- Aid in recruitment and retention of firefighters.
- Compensate our volunteer firefighters who dedicate countless hours for free.
- Staff firehouse to appropriate levels
- Maintain vehicles, apparatus and equipment
- Develop a replacement plan to keep all vehicles, apparatus and equipment up to date with current standards.
These are just a few of the improvements that we would work to accomplish.
We will in the coming weeks be setting up a Facebook page (Ste. Genevieve Fire Prot Dist.) and an e-mail address to present the information and allow questions to be asked and answered.
The Ste. Genevieve Fire Prot. Dist. Committee