Snapshot: 2012 Mokena Fire Protection District Budget

The Mokena Fire Protection District is putting the finishing touches on its tentative fiscal year 2012 budget before seeking public comment and board approval this summer.

General operating funds are slated at $5.3 million. Salaries and wages are expected to cost $3 million, with another $514,000 in pension payments. The fire district employs a combined 33 full-time and two part-time firefighters and office workers, according to Fire Chief Ted Golden.

Another $1.5 million of revenue will be set aside for capital improvements. About two-thirds of which will go towards paying for the newly constructed Station 3 in Orland Park, while the remaining money will be used for the future purchase of new apparatus, including hoses, Golden said.

Although the fiscal year begins June 1, its budget will not be approved until July or August, after the district holds a mandatory public hearing to elicit feedback from the community.

Golden called the delay a “matter of timing,” noting that the fire district doesn’t receive property tax revenue until middle April.

The fire district covers Mokena and portions of Orland Park, Frankfort and Homer Glen.