A new fire protection and ambulance service agreement between the City of DeKalb and Northern Illinois University was approved as part of DeKalb’s city council meeting Monday night.
Under the agreement, the DeKalb Fire Department will provide fire protection and ambulance services for 60 months through June 30, 2019, and NIU will make payments to the city for the services as follows:
- FY2015 $604,982.38
- FY2016 $629,181.68
- FY2017 $654,348.95
- FY2018 $680,522.90
- FY2019 $831,714.00
The five-year agreement approved by aldermen Monday was approved by the NIU Board of Trustees during a May 29 public meeting. By the fifth year of the agreement, the city will see a 43 percent increase from NIU’s current contribution of $581,713.
“I want to thank you for your consideration of the fire services contract with the City of DeKalb,” DeKalb Mayor John Rey told the trustees. “I believe we can work together with the public and private interests across the community with cooperation. I appreciate your support from the Board of Trustees and look forward to continued work with President Baker as we move into the future.”
According to information provided by Fire Chief Eric Hicks, the university generates 16.3 percent of emergency fire department responses while providing 6 percent of the fire department’s budget.
NIU also will pay the city $275,000 in the next 30 days toward the purchase of a used aerial ladder truck that staff expects will cost $550,000. To pay its share, the city will finance the truck for no more than 10 years. NIU is utilizing institutional-local funds to make its payments.
