Referundum results from the March 19 Election

BY AN OVERWHELMING MAJORITY, on April 24 the Illinois Senate passed HB4299 on a 57-2 vote and sent this "park district youth program" license plate to Governor George Ryan for his signature. This special license plate will benefit park districts and the residents they serve by generating money for youth programming in park districts across the state.

Right now you have a fantastic opportunity to write to Governor George Ryan in support of this bill, at 207 Statehouse, Springfield, IL 62706. Ask Governor Ryan to approve HB4229 as soon as possible. The governor has 90 days from the date of passage to approve the bill.

Park districts throughout the state are indebted to Senate bill sponsor Sen. Kathleen Parker (R-29, Northbrook) and House bill sponsors Rep. Maggie Grotty (D-35, Oak Forest) and Rep. Suzie Bassi (R-54, Palatine) for their dedication and commitment to this important piece of legislation. The plate's preliminary design as show on this page. The Secretary of State's office requires a commitment of more than 850 plates to be sold prior to stamping the plates. More on this exciting initiative will follow Governor George Ryans action on this bill.

On other legislative fronts, SB1543 was amended in the Illinois house to decouple Illinois from the federal accelerated depreciation schedule for manufacturing equipment and business investment. This legislation has a dollars-and-sense impact on your agency as it will affect collections of the corporate personal property replacement tax, which every local government in the state of Illinois receives. Decoupling from the federal economic stimulus package is necessary so that local governments do not lose approximately $150 million in FY2003 funding.

For information about the financial impact of this legislation on your district, go to the public policy page of the IAPD Web site, www.ILparks.org.

Audits
HB 6034 (Davis, Steven)
Amends the Public Funds Statement Publication Act. Removes the requirement that the summary statement of operations to be filed with the public officers' annual statement must be "as excerpted from the annual financial report as filed with the appropriate state agency of the state of Illinois." Amends the Governmental Account Audit Act. Defines "report" to include both audit reports and reports riled instead of an audit report by a governmental unit "receiving less than $850,000" (currently, appropriating less than $200,000") during any fiscal year to which the reports relate. Last action: 5-8-02, passed both Houses.

Double-barreled Bonds
HB6011 (Winters)
Amends the Local Government Debt Reform Act and would change the number of people who must sign the petition challenging the authorization of the issuance of double-barreled bonds to the greater of 2.5 percent of registered voters (currently 7.5% of registered voters). Last action: 4-5-02, re-referred to Rules.

Equity Interest
HB 5824 (Scully)
Amends the Park District Code to authorize park districts to own, possess, and carry as an asset an equity interest in a corporation, partnership, limited liability company or trust that is engaged solely in activities in which the park district is otherwise permitted to engage. Last action: 4-5-02, re-referred to Rules.

Fines
SB1735(Syverson-Burzynksi)
Authorizes park districts to prescribe fines and penalties not to exceed $1,000 (currently $500) for ordinance violations. Effective immediately. Last action: 4-17-02, passed both Houses.

Forest Preserves
HB 5694 (Winters-Jefferson-Wait)
Amends the downstate forest preserve district act to provide that the Winnebago County

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Forest Preserve, after a front-door referendum, can raise their taxes for general corporate purposes for a fiscal year not to exceed the rate of. 10% of the district's assessed valuation. Last action: 4-5-02, referred to Rules.

Open Meetings Act
SB1756(Cullerton- House sponsor Feigenholtz)
Requires that a public body post its agenda on the public body's Web site if the public body has a Web site that the staff of the public body maintains. In addition, public notice of meetings and the posting of minutes also would be required to be posted on a public body's Web site, if that site meets the requirements cited above. Last action: 5-7-02, passed both Houses.

Liquor
SB1909(Karpiel-House sponsors Reitz-Schmitz)
Clarifies the authority of park districts to sell alcohol on golf courses using beverage carts on courses that the district owns and operates. The intent of this legislation is to give park districts the same authority that currently exists for forest preserves and other units of government. Last action: 4-17-02, referred to House Rules.

Museums
HB 4257 (Karpiel-House sponsors Reitz-Schmitz)
This bill provides that aquariums and museums operated by a park district must be open to the public without charge for a period equivalent to 52 days at least six of which must be during the period from June to August each year. These requirements were previously required of park districts by Public Act 91-918, which is scheduled to sunset this year. Last Action: 4-1 B-02, passed both Houses.

Public Funds
HB 3734 (Karpiel-House sponsors Reitz-Schmitz)
Authorizes the treasurer of any public or municipal corporation to use an electronic funds transfer as a method of disbursement. Last action: 4-18-02, passed both Houses.

Available May 2002! The Handbook on Illinois Park District Law 4th Edition, Revised and Expanded By Robert W. Roiek, Robert K. Bush and Stewart H. Diamond of Ancil, Glink, Diamond, Bush, DiCianni & Rolek, P.C. Fully revised and expanded with 29 sample forms and a CD-Rom, this is your easy-to-read guide to the complex legal issues facing Illinois park districts, including ADA, Open Meetings, liability and FOIA. Expanded sections include construction contracts, foundations, labor laws. •

Youth Umpires
SB2417(Radogno) HB 6283 (Lyons-Bellock-Mathias-Brady)
Both the Illinois House and Senate have introduced legislation to address the U.S. Department of Labor's restrictions on youth umpires. The Illinois legislation permits 12-and 13-year-olds to serve as umpires or referees in conjunction with youth sports. Last action taken on the bills can be found at the IAPD Web site.

HB 5996 (Hultgren-Davis, Steve-Parke)
passed the Senate on a 56-0 vote and was sent back to the House for reconsideration. The bill was amended include language permitting 12- and 13-year-olds to officiate youth sports activities for a not-for-profit youth club, park district or municipal parks and recreation department subject to restrictions. Last action: 5-9-02, passed the Senate. •

RECORD ATTENDANCE AT IAPD LEGISLATIVE

Attendance at this year's IAPD Legislative Conference broke all records with more than 350 park commissioners and directors from throughout the state in attendance. Special guest speakers included U.S. Senator Carl Hawkinson, Republican candidate for Illinois Lieutenant Governor; Illinois Senator Lisa Madigan, Democratic candidate for Attorney General; and Winnebago County chairman Kristine Cohn, Republic candidate for Secretary of State. Featured speaker Joel Blackwell, grass-roots advocacy trainer and author of Personal Political Power, discussed the keys to delivering your message to politicians, including the following.

www.npca.org USA Today named this Web site an "Education Best Bet" and, deservedly, it has received many best-of-the-net awards. The Web site of the National Parks Conservation Association is indeed cool to look at and very useful. Check out the "Take Action" section for easy ways to make contact with legislators regarding national park issues. Established in 1919, the association was originally created as a watchdog for the National Park Service and today it partners with the federal government as well as regional and local groups in advocacy for parks, wildlife and the environment. •

• Make your message personal, computer generated mail.

• Let them know how it will affect their district.

• Make sure you know what you want.

• Make sure they know what you want.

• Make sure they know who cares and how much they care.

When asking what you want, Blackwell suggested using one of the following phrases:

• How do you feel about what I said?

• When can I expect an answer?

Finally, he emphasized the importance of thank-you's to a group of people (legislators) who seldom receive words of encourage or a thank you for the hard work they do.

Look for conference photo highlights at www.ILparks.org and in the next issue of IP&R magazine.

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Referendum Results - March 19, 2002 Below is a report of select referenda (those affecting park districts and forest preserves) submitted to the voters for the General Election held March 19,2002. The data was obtained from election authorities, jurisdictional canvassing board abstracts and IAPD members. Of those referendum passed, five were for increases in bonded indebtedness, totaling 74,501,396; two of which were for acquisition and one for development of a community center; two were for general rate increases in the Corporate Fund of .l3% and .05%. Type #Proposals Pass/Fail Taxes .......... 158 ........... ...... 81/77 Bonds ........... 72 ........... ...... 63/27 Miscellaneous ........... 45.......... ...... 29/16 Advisory ........... 12 .......... ........ 4/8 Type #Proposals Pass/Fail School ...........124 ....... 73/51 County ........... 11 ....... 3/8 Township/Road ........... 10 ....... 4/6 City ........... 21 ...... 3/18 Village/Town ........... 41 ...... 22/19 Park District Isssues ........... 24 ...... 7/17 Miscellaneous ........... 97 ..... 61/36 Park and Forest Preserve District Referenda Results COUNTY DISTRICT TYPE DESCRIPTION PASS/FAIL VOTES YES/NO Lake Barrington PD Bonds Shall the Barrington P.D. issue bonds ($11,500,000) for the purpose of purchasing the Jewel-Tea Property, demolition expenses & performing environmental remediation thereon, all for improving the same for park purposes, and for the payment of expenses incident thereto? PASSED 2242/1407 Lake Barrington PD Taxes Shall the Barrington PD increase aggregate principal indebtedness from 4.00 per centum of the value of the taxable property therein? PASSED 1988/1524 DuPage Bloomingdale PD Bonds Shall bonds ($14,750,000) be issued for the purpose of constructing and equip, new Comm Center, renovating the existing pool & building (Johnson Recreation Center), const. new maintenance facility & purchasing land. Failed 629/1266 Cook Burr Ridge PD Taxes Shall the Burr Ridge Park District be authorized to levy and collect an additional tax of .15% for the purpose of recreational programs, as provided in Section 5-3a of "The Park District Code?" Failed 774/1145 Fulton Canton PD Misc Shall the Canton Park District be allowed to sell the following described real estate? A tract of land located in Sections Two & Eleven Twp Six North, Range Four East of the Fourth Principal Meridian? Failed 3,037/3,419 Clinton City of Trenton Taxes Shall the city of Trenton assent to a maximum property tax to expand, maintain & conduct a supervised playground & recreation system of .20% of full, fair cash value, as equalized or assessed by Dept. of Revenue n/a n/a DuPage Darien PD Taxes Shall the Darien PD be authorized to levy and collect anadditional tax of not to exceed .07% for all corporate purposes as provided in Section 5-3 of "the Park District Code"? Failed 1945/3173 DuPage Fox Valley PD Taxes Shall the city of Aurora issue bonds in the amount of $33,000,000 for the purpose to build and equip new community center along with improving existing buildings and parks PASSED 15,205/6324 Will/Cook Frankfort PD Taxes Proposition to authorize the levy and collection of an additional Corporate Tax of. 10% Failed 1024/1555

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