By John Gittings
WiscNews
BARABOO, Wis. — Baraboo-area property taxpayers could end up paying hundreds of dollars more for fire and EMS services next year as the commission that oversees local firefighters and paramedics struggles to close a $2.2 million shortfall.
The shortfall, which resulted from uncollected patient bills, municipal funding that has not kept up with expenses and wage increases, will likely take five years to eliminate, officials with the Baraboo Area Fire and EMS District said this week.
The district covers Baraboo, West Baraboo, and the towns of Baraboo, Fairfield and Greenfield.
| THE PULSE: Medics weigh in on off-duty cannabis use
“The district’s goal is to establish a sustainable financial model that ensures the continued delivery of high-quality fire and EMS services throughout the communities we serve,” department Chief Caleb Johnson said in an email. “If funding efforts are unsuccessful, the district would need to evaluate a range of options, including service reductions, staffing impacts, or organizational restructuring.”
The proposed increases include a nearly $1 million EMS assessment increase from $677,609 to $1.6 million, a 136% increase. Baraboo’s contribution would increase from $512,340 to $1,209,759, and West Baraboo would go from $52,500 to $123,964. The town of Baraboo’s increase would go from $58,940 to $139,153, while the town of Fairfield’s would go $30,528 to $72,084, and the town of Greenfield would rise from $23,310 to $55,040.
Funding from the municipalities covers 18% of EMS operations, according to Johnson.
The district is also proposing a 46% increase in fire protection services, bringing its municipal contribution from $705,127 to $1.03 million. Broken down by municipality, that would mean a $211,735 increase from Baraboo, $27,757 more from West Baraboo, $43,917 additional from the town of Baraboo, $21,130 extra from the town of Fairfield and $20,461 more from Greenfield.
If all assessments were approved, the owner of a $300,000 Baraboo home would pay about $611 in fire and EMS-related property taxes next year, up from about $301 this year. The owner of a similarly valued home in West Baraboo would see their rates go from $260 to $583, in the town of Baraboo from $148 to $337, in the town of Fairfield from $203 to $408 and in the town of Greenfield from $171 to $302.
How rural police and first responders are keeping their departments alive
Rural police, fire and EMS leaders sponsor training, push advantages to keep and recruit responders.
“I understand we’re asking the community to increase funding needs for the district, but we need to have a service that’s built around readiness,” Spencer Nett, the president of the responders’ union, International Association of Firefighters Local 5429, said Thursday. “It’s important the community remembers we’re not paying for the calls we run. We’re paying to have trained professionals, staff ambulances, fire apparatus, all of those things so that when an emergency does occur, we have the resources needed to respond.”
In a separate open letter to the community, Nett wrote that, as an area taxpayer, he is also concerned about how the funding increases would affect his personal finances, but added that “taxpayers deserve the whole conversation, not just the number most likely to scare them.” The district can no longer afford to rely on patient revenue to fund a 24-7 emergency service, he wrote.
Each municipality would need to determine how to cover these increases, Baraboo Mayor Rob Nelson said. The city would likely take out a short-term loan in November before paying it back in February after receiving property taxes. Because the extra spending would be classified as debt, the city could add it to the tax rolls without exceeding its state-imposed levy limits, he said.
Where to go from here
“It is an imperfect work-around, but one of the only routes open to us due to severe restrictions on ways that Wisconsin municipalities can raise revenue,” Nelson said in an email.
The district is not required to seek a referendum but assesses municipalities, which then determine how to fund their portion of the cost. Those municipalities could conduct their own referendums, but time is quickly running out to do so this fall: Municipal officials would need to submit a referendum question to their clerks by Monday and to Sauk County Clerk Becky Evert by Tuesday in order to have it appear on the Nov. 3 ballot.
About 79% of the district’s EMS clients are on Medicare or Medicaid or are uninsured, Johnson said. That has resulted in the district writing off uncollected debt that has risen from $289,000 in 2023 to $996,000 last year.
Wisconsin Medicaid program projects $322 million shortfall
Wisconsin’s Medicaid program is projected to cost more than $300 million beyond the funds allocated for it in the state’s current two-year spending plan, which was signed last summer.
“Increased public funding is necessary to fill that gap, as we already do with police, transportation, and other essential public services,” Nelson said.
Baraboo already owes $900,000 to the district for fire equipment replacement costs, a debt that dates back to before 2023, when the former Baraboo Fire Department and Baraboo Area EMS District consolidated. None of the other municipalities owe the district money.
When paid, the debt would likely go toward a new firetruck, Nelson said.
If municipalities cannot raise their contributions, the district could run out of money for basic expenses, like payroll and diesel fuel, by early 2027, which Nelson said would put the communities the district serves in “uncharted territory.” Residents could expect to see reductions in service and may need to rely on neighboring departments for emergency response, “neither of which is an attractive option,” he said.
The commission is due to take up the issue at its Aug. 26 meeting, although a final budget vote won’t happen until October.
While dissolution of the district is not the objective, continued financial instability without a solution could “necessitate significant operational changes,” Johnson said.
The district is also proposing a 4.26% wage increase for full-time firefighters and paramedics. The employees are cross-trained, and the increase meets contractual wage adjustments for unionized employees after a wage freeze during the last two years, Johnson said. The wage freeze was agreed upon between the firefighters union and the department in 2024, Nett said.
The district could reduce how often it purchases new equipment, Town of Baraboo Board and district Commissioner Randy Puttkamer said at the district’s Aug. 12 meeting.
Options on the table
West Baraboo Village President Mike Arndt suggested during the meeting that the department increase pay for pay-per-call firefighters to attract more of them. Such firefighters do not require the benefits and wages of full-timers, said Arndt, a former Baraboo firefighter.
While that sounds like a solution, Nett said public interest in firefighting and emergency response outside of full-time work is declining nationwide. Paying on-call firefighters more for each call also would not significantly ease the off-clock burdens for full-time staff, he said.
Full-time firefighters are also doing extra work to compensate for the department’s shortage of pay-per-call members, Nett and Johnson said.
“Everything that is done here is a viable service,” Arndt said.
© 2026 WiscNews.
Visit www.wiscnews.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.