Godfrey Mayor McCormick sets up "Godfrey Fire Department Rescue Fund"

GODFREY - Village of Godfrey Mayor Mike McCormick has formulated an innovative plan to help the Godfrey Fire Department.

The fund will be called the "Godfrey Fire Department Rescue Fund" and is an immediate measure to help with the assistance process. McCormick is concerned with the Godfrey Fire Protection District's financial situation and knows there is a need for fire apparatus for the safety of residents.

"Some funds take a percentage of the top of fund-raisers, but with this Godfrey gets to keep all of it," he said. "I reached out to Terry Ford, treasurer of the Godfrey Fire Protection District, and we will be forwarding the money to him to be co-signed and 100 percent of the money goes to the Fire Protection District."

Following the fire district’s appeal on Feb. 20 for assistance from the Godfrey Board of Trustees, a concerned Mayor McCormick has announced that he will be taking the initiative for setting up a “Godfrey Fire Department Rescue Fund” similar to other public “GoFundMe” accounts as an immediate effort for the public to provide assistance to the department.

The accounts will be set up through two local banks (Carrollton Bank and CNB Bank) and the process/all transactions will be transparent/open for review by village officials and the fire district trustees. All monies will be handled by the Godfrey Fire Protection District Treasurer and there will be no administrative charges or fees. 100 percent of the donations will go directly to the fire district.

Mayor McCormick said: “Public safety is always the community’s number one concern and the village has its own budget and financial challenges to consider. By setting up the “Godfrey Fire Department Rescue Fund”, we can jump-start the financial assistance process immediately by giving the public an opportunity to donate and help the fire district get on the path to obtaining that much needed fire apparatus.”

McCormick wants to remind that while public safety is the “primary” concern for the community, the village of Godfrey and the Godfrey Fire Protection District are two separate bodies of government with their own set of trustees. The two have their own individual budgets to operate and their own unique set of financial challenges, the mayor said.

"Knowing what kind of giving village this is, hopefully we will get them some help," Mayor McCormick said. "The money raised will go toward buying equipment and not personnel. A new fire truck would cost between $300,000 and $500,000. A basic fire truck would be $300,000, but one with a lot of bells and whistles would be $500,000. You can't always drive a Cadillac, so we will do the best we can do with the fund-raising."

As far as “longer term” solutions, The Village of Godfrey, much like other municipalities (including Alton), are now seriously considering the possibility of selling its sewer department which has been heavily burdened by strict and expensive environmental regulations that require continuous extensive upgrades.

In recent years costs for repairs, upgrades, expansion and operation of the sewer department has shown to be quite expensive for communities the size of Godfrey as the village already outsources the operation and management of the sewer department to a private firm (American Water Contract Services).

Mayor McCormick said: “We are quickly realizing, not only would the burden and costs associated with maintaining and operating a system of that size would be lifted off the shoulders of local government and its taxpayers, the sale of the sewer department and all of its facilities (treatment plants and lift stations, basins etc.) that would result in an annual property tax windfall that would benefit the Godfrey Fire Protection District.”

Currently, property taxes are not assessed on those government owned facilities/properties and by selling the sewer department to a private entity, the business would be required to pay the assessed fire district taxes which could generate tens of thousands each year providing additional annual long term financial assistance.

If you or your company/agency would like to donate to the “Godfrey Fire Department Rescue Fund” donations may be sent to:

Carrollton Bank

120 Homer M Adams Pkwy,
Alton, IL 62002
Attention: Steve Thompson
(618) 467-1700

Or

CNB Bank of Alton
200 Homer M Adams Pkwy,
Alton, IL. 62002
Attention: Amy Roady
(618) 465-5656

If you or your company/agency has any further questions regarding the donation process you can contact the Godfrey Mayor's office at: (618) 466-3324.

NOTE: 100 PERCENT OF ALL DONATIONS/MONIES WILL GO TO DIRECTLY THE FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT AND BE HANDLED BY THE GODFREY FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT TREASURER. THERE WILL BE NO ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS OR FEES.

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