The Village of Pleasant Prairie is preparing to educate the community on the public safety referendum question that will appear on the April 5 spring election ballot. The Village has scheduled two virtual information sessions, beginning at
6:00 p.m. on February 23 and
6:00 p.m. on March 16, 2022. Residents are encouraged to attend one of the informational meetings.
The purpose of the meetings is to allow the public to learn about the public safety referendum and understand the community’s growing safety needs. The February 23 and March 16 meetings will include a presentation from Village Administrator Nathan Thiel, Police Chief David Smetana, and Fire Chief Craig Roepke and offer a question-and-answer segment.
Residents can participate in the virtual sessions via Zoom online meeting software on a smartphone or computer. Participants should select the meeting links listed below and enter a name and email address when prompted to register for the meetings. Additional information about the referendum is also available
here. Guests that do not have access to a computer or smartphone may attend the meeting in person at Village Hall Auditorium, 9915 39th Avenue.
Growth, demand, and inflation have outpaced Village revenues because of state levy limits. The public safety referendum on the April 5 ballot will ask Pleasant Prairie voters to decide if they will support increasing the Village’s annual tax levy by $1.6 million to cover the costs for hiring and retaining four additional police officers and 12 additional fire and rescue staff, beginning in 2023.
Over the last three years, the Village of Pleasant Prairie researched the Village's public safety needs and identified that the current public safety funding is insufficient to meet the community’s growing service demands. The Village requires additional public safety personnel in the Fire & Rescue and Police Departments to ensure residents, visitors, and businesses have continued access to high-quality public safety services. Approval of the referendum by a majority of voters would enable Pleasant Prairie to hire the necessary staff at the beginning of 2023 to maintain quality public safety services in the future.