The Village of Pleasant Prairie Village Board and administration received a presentation Monday night summarizing the results of a community wide survey on public safety funding. The highlights revealed that a majority of the 2,145 respondents support a referendum to increase local property taxes in order to maintain existing police, fire and emergency medical services and hire four additional police officers and 12 fire emergency medical staff.
“The community members of the Village of Pleasant Prairie’s participation in the survey reaffirms how much our residents value the first-class fire and police services we offer,” said Craig Roepke, Village of Pleasant Prairie Chief of Fire & Rescue. “This feedback will help the Village make an educated decision on how to address the budget challenges we face as we move forward.”
The continued growth in population and development in Pleasant Prairie has caused an increase in the demand for public safety services. Pleasant Prairie Fire and Rescue (PPFR) calls are up 62% since 2010 and Pleasant Prairie Police Department (PPPD) calls are up 12.5% since 2019 with an increase in call complexity. As a result, it is becoming difficult to sustain the level of service the Pleasant Prairie community has come to expect. The Village must take action to preserve this level of police, fire and emergency medical services. The Village has also identified a need for additional police officers and fire/emergency medical staff to fulfill both department’s response and preventative responsibilities.
Community Perceptions, an independent Wisconsin-based research firm with expertise in conducting community surveys, was hired to administer and analyze the survey. The firm’s president, Bill Foster, shared the findings with the council on Monday. Complete survey results are available
here.
Highlights from the presentation include:
• 89% of respondents said that maintaining the current level of emergency services is important to them and their families.
• Over 60% of the respondents encouraged the Village to explore additional funding options to maintain the current level of EMS services rather than reducing services to balance the budget.
• A majority of respondents support a referendum to increase local property taxes to fund public safety.
The Village has developed an assessment of public safety funding options to provide additional details on the decisions facing local leaders. Citizens are encouraged to review the assessment, which can be found at
pleasantprairiewi.gov/public-safety-options.
The Village Board will evaluate the community's feedback at its meeting in January. If a referendum is scheduled, it would likely be in early April 2022.
About Pleasant Prairie
The Village of Pleasant Prairie is a Village in Kenosha County with about 21,250 residents and 494 businesses. Pleasant Prairie is a family friendly community featuring quality parks, schools, and trails. It is ranked among the fastest growing communities in Wisconsin.