GENE BERGHOFF

From the desk of:
Executive Vice President

By Eugene Berghoff

In preparing our revenue report on the financial condition of park districts in Illinois to support House Bill 1779, we were amazed at the loss of assessed valuation that is facing many districts in Illinois.

Like the family budget, the park district budget has been hit hard by not only the loss of our tax base, but also by inflation.

It was pointed out, in our report to the General Assembly, that park districts are really not special units of local government, but that they are actually local public parks. Any citizen can use the facilities of your district, resident or nonresident, and it is not required that they live within your district and pay property taxes to support a local park system. Non-residents, of course, can be charged a higher fee than residents, but as long as they abide by the laws of the State and do not violate ordinances, as adopted by the park board, they are eligible to enjoy your parks and participate in your recreation programs.

We differ from other special districts such as school districts where you are required to live within that area in order to attend that particular school. The same would apply to fire protection districts, mosquito abatement districts, sanitation districts, street lighting districts, etc.

We, therefore, must convince the General Assembly that the State of Illinois has an obligation to assist in the financing of local park districts because we simply do not have sufficient funds at the local level to meet the cost of an average park and recreation program.

Failure of the State to provide these funds would only shift the burden back to the local property taxpayer who is already overburdened.

I encourage each park official and staff member to remain in close touch with his State Representatives and State Senator, to guarantee that House Bill 1779 will pass the General Assembly and provide revenues to our districts.

IAPD and IPRS believe that the democratic process functions best through frank and open discussion. Material published in this magazine, therefore often presents divergent and controversial points of view which do not necessarily represent the views or policies of the two sponsoring organizations.

Illinois Parks and Recreation 3 November/December, 1975