Glencoe residents will have a nearly $15 million decision to make this fall on whether they want to fund a series of improvements proposed by the Park District.
The Park District Board unanimously voted on July 17 to put a 25-year, $14.7 million bond sale referendum on the November 2024 ballot.
“The proposed bond referendum would protect and improve some of our most important assets,” Park District Executive Director Lisa Sheppard said.
Among the changes envisioned is a replacement of beach playground equipment, an enhanced interior at the Safran Beach House and greater accessibility to the beach and boardwalk with new ramps and railings. Also, a series of aging storage and maintenance buildings behind the Takiff Center would be demolished and replaced by a single building.
Park District officials say residents would not see an increase in their property tax bill if the referendum is approved because the existing bonds for the 2005 Takiff Center renovation are set to be retired next year.
If the bond sale is rejected, property taxes would decrease roughly $261 annually for a Glencoe home with a fair market value of $1 million, according to the Park District.
“If we wait longer the costs of these items will only become more expensive,” Park Board President Carol Spain said.
The Park Board is asking residents to fund the improvements as two other high profile bond sales are currently part of the overall property tax bill.
In 2014, local voters approved an $89 million referendum allowing a massive renovation of the New Trier High School’s Winnetka campus.
Last year, residents approved a $15 million village referendum to overhaul the Glencoe Golf Club highlighted by a new clubhouse and pro shop with a restaurant.
However, Spain did not see the requests as comparable.
“We are not really asking for anything new like a new golf clubhouse with a restaurant or any new amenity,” she said. “We are really offering improvements to the facilities we already have.”
The Park District represents 7% of the overall property tax bill in Glencoe.
Glencoe resident Barb Padiak attended the July 17 meeting to ask questions about the project. Afterword, she said she was undecided on how she will vote on the referendum in November.
“I do agree there could be some upgrades at the back of the Takiff Center for maintenance as what they have back there is very antiquated,” she said. “But I am not sure it requires all of the funds that are being asked for. That is what the taxpayers have to independently ask.”
All of these proposed projects are part of the Park District’s $22 million capital improvement plan.
Sheppard said the Park District would seek grants and donations plus examine whether to tap into reserves to pay for the remaining approximate seven million in projects still needed to round out the rest of the capital plan.
Glencoe voters are now likely to vote on two separate referenda in November on long term issues facing the village.
Besides the Park District request, the village is set to put a question of whether the village should switch to a home rule form of government on the ballot. Glencoe is one of the few North Shore communities without home rule and village leaders believe home rule would make self-governance easier.
“We think that we are proposing a number of improvements to our community without a tax increase and we believe it will have broad support regardless of the village’s home rule referendum plans,” Spain said.
Asked if he had any concerns about having the two issues on the same ballot, Village President Howard Roin only said, “That’s life.”
Ahead of the July 17 vote, the Park District held a series of community forums regarding the financial requests connected to the referendum.
Daniel I. Dorfman is a freelance reporter with Pioneer Press.
