The city of Eldridge has denied threatening to withhold funding from the Eldridge Volunteer Fire Company if Keith Schneckloth remained fire chief.
In a statement sent to The North Scott Press Monday afternoon, the city wrote that it wanted to “address the various inaccuracies that have been disseminated to our residents.”
City officials called recent public comments regarding negotiations with the EVFC, including those posted to the fire department’s Facebook page, “inaccurate.” It denied leveraging city funding for the department against Schneckloth’s appointment as chief.
“The City has made it clear to the EVFC that the City would continue to provide the same funding that has been provided regardless of their Fire Chief selection,” the statement reads.
At the June 15 city council meeting, mayor Scott Campbell said that the city had “expressed concerns to the EVFC that if they hired Schneckloth as fire chief, that the working relationship with the city would be strained and could negatively imact the success of an ongoing relationship with the fire department as an independent agency funded primarily by the city.”
The city’s Monday statement recaps the history of negotiations with the fire department.
Last May, members of the EVFC asked the city to hire a full-time chief as a city employee to assist with administrative burdens placed on the department, the city states.
“Both sides dedicated resources into evaluating this option and, ultimately, it was determined that having a City employee supervise employees of a private, nonprofit organization was not possible, for a variety of legal and insurance reasons,” the statement reads. “As an alternative, the City offered to provide funding so the EVFC could hire its own chief. The EVFC rejected that offer, clarified that they were not looking for money and instead asked the City to take over the EVFC as a City Department. This would include owning all assets, including their building, trucks and other equipment.”
Schneckloth was fired by the city in December 2025 and resigned as fire chief shortly afterwards. Negotiations between the city and the EVFC continued, and the statement claims these conversations were “productive for several months and both parties were seriously considering the transition to a City department.
“These conversations persisted and ultimately reached a point where the EVFC and the City were only $50,000 apart in their respective proposed budgets,” the statement reports.
According to the city, by April 8, 2026, the EVFC had provided a “minimum budget” they felt they needed to remain independent, $476,670. At that time, the city invited representatives from the department to come to a city council meeting and present their request for the additional $50,000.
But by that point, Schneckloth had returned as fire chief and was once again part of the conversations. According to the city statement, officials told Schneckloth that a conversation would be necessary regarding additional funding given the misconduct allegations surrounding his termination by the city.
At the end of the April 8 meeting, representatives from the fire department said they would be taking the matter of remaining independent or transitioning to a city entity to a vote of the membership.
The statement said the city had no further communication with the EVFC until June 12, when the fire department sent an email stating they had voted to remain independent, and they now needed a $828,516 annual budget to remain independent. The fire department gave the city until July 15 to respond to its financial request.
The $828,516 amount the department says it needs includes $62,000 from the county and Benefitted Fire District No. 3, which covers the rural portion of Eldridge, as well as $766,516 from the city of Eldridge.
“The increased budget came without any conversation, despite productive meetings occurring between the parties for several months,” the city statement reports.
The city’s statement criticized the department’s decision to hire a public relations firm to assist with its communications. The department has retained Cedar Rapids-based Plaid Swan Inc. The statement said the city does not believe “responding to individual social media posts is a sound use of taxpayer dollars.”
The city reported that it is willing to continue working in cooperation with the fire department to ensure uninterrupted, high-quality fire and emergency medical services for Eldridge, “guided by accountability, transparency, responsible stewardship of taxpayer resources and the rule of law.
“The City remained at the table willing to continue these discussions and find a positive path forward. That willingness remains unchanged by the recent social media campaign directed by the EVFC,” the statement reads.
Friday, representatives from the fire department told The North Scott Press their request for $766,516 from the city this year is a firm number, and they would not view a contribution of less than that to be sustainable for the department.
On Monday, in response to follow-up questions from The North Scott Press, mayor Scott Campbell said, “It is disheartening that the fire department is unwilling to negotiate further, and while I can’t speak on behalf of the entire council, it’s unfortunate that on April 8 we were only $50,000 apart and had a path forward to solve that shortfall. Again, in April, they said they could operate on a budget of $476,670, and we were at $364,406 — which was an increase of $135,406 from FY26 — with the county contributing an additional $62,000. Then, two months later they were asking for $766,616 without providing any additional context.
“If EVFC takes the position they are unwilling to negotiate, then it would be my recommendation that the council would review and determine the most cost effective and responsible solution to providing fire and EMS services,” Campbell continued. “City staff has researched other communities with similar populations and call volume, that have transitioned from volunteer to city departments and appear to be able to operate on budgets more aligned to what we were negotiating.”
The city statement concludes by saying, “The City values the dedicated service of the many volunteer firefighters who protect our community. We will not allow their dedicated service and the health or safety of our community to be jeopardized by individual actions not motivated for the collective good of our community. No matter which direction this goes, both sides agree that providing fire protection services is of the utmost importance. In fact, many of our elected officials have walked in their shoes. We will find a long-term sustainable solution for our City and owe our citizens nothing less.”
In the short-term, Campbell said, “The city has mutual aid agreements in place to make sure that service is provided for any emergency. The city remains willing to negotiate in good faith toward a successful solution for both the volunteers and city residents.”