Colfax fire district ends 2021 with $20,000 surplus
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
Editor’s Note: LeAnn R. Ralph serves as a supervisor on the Otter Creek Town Board and was the township’s representative at the April 7 meeting of the Colfax Community Fire District Board.
COLFAX — The Colfax Community Fire District ended 2021 with a $20,299.50 surplus that will be deposited into the vehicle replacement account.
The ending balance of the vehicle replacement account December 31, 2021, was $229,115.43, according to a financial statement reviewed by the Colfax Community Fire District Board at a meeting held April 7 at the Colfax fire station.
Total revenue for 2021 was $114,556.45, which compares to a budgeted amount for revenue of $112,700.
Total operating expenses for 2021 were $92,400, which compares to a budgeted amount of $112,700 for expenses, representing a surplus of $20,299.50.
In addition to the vehicle replacement account with a balance of $229,115, the fire district has a money market business account with a balance of $43,530.71 as of December 31, 2021.
The Colfax fire department plans to replace one of the fire engines within the next few years.
The budget levy of $94,700 has remained the same for about the past 10 years.
The Colfax Community Fire District includes the Village of Colfax and the Towns of Colfax, Grant and Otter Creek.
Assistant fire chief
The Colfax Community Fire District Board approved Kyle Repaal, who was elected by Colfax firefighters, as assistant fire chief.
As of January 1, Don Logslett stepped down as fire chief, and Gary Hill assumed the position of fire chief.
Hill had previously served as assistant fire chief.
Repaal worked full time for the Menomonie fire department and has retired, Hill said.
Repaal will fill out the rest of Hill’s term until December 31, 2022, so that the terms of fire chief and assistant fire chief remain staggered, with the fire chief elected one year and the assistant fire chief elected the next year, he said.
Bad debt
Jessica Checkalski, clerk-treasurer for the fire district, supplied a list of bad debt to the fire board going back to 2013 totaling $10,183.27.
The items on the list were mostly car accidents or car fires, although several of the amounts that had not been paid were for filling swimming pools, Hill and Logslett said.
Amounts for fire runs are invoiced to the municipalities. The municipalities pay the fire bills and then invoice the landowners. If the landowners do not pay, then the municipalities can put those amounts on the property taxes of the individual property owners, they said.
The $10,183.27 in debt could not be placed on the property taxes because the amounts were associated with personal property and not property that is subject to property taxes, Hill and Logslett explained.
The Colfax Community Fire District Board approved writing off bad debt from 2013 to 2016 for a little over $6,400 and agreed that the fire district should continue to try to collect the remaining debt of a little over $3,700 from 2017 to 2021.
Fire board members wondered if the remaining bad debt could be registered with the state’s Tax Refund Intercept Program, and Checkalski said she would find out.
Out of the $3,700, the amount of $1,556.88 was invoiced to the Town of Colfax in June of 2021.
Gary Bjork, representative on the fire board for the Town of Colfax, said he would check with the town treasurer to determine the status of the payment and whether the Town of Colfax had actually received the invoice or if it had perhaps gotten lost in the mail.
