Archive for the ‘Carbondale Park District’ Category
Park District Tax Levy Confusion
The Southern Illinoisan had a confusing article on the Carbondale Park District’s plans for next year’s tax levy. The first sentence says the Park District is proposing an increase to its tax levy. The second sentence says:
Taxes will not increase because of the levy; instead, the district is just trying to maximize the revenue it can bring in, based on the amount of growth that occurs within the Park District.
Maybe I’m missing something here, but I don’t see how the tax levy can increase without taxes increasing. The rest of the article seems to say that taxes will increase.
The article mentions the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law (PTELL), which would limit any increase to 2.7% this year. Then the article says the Park District plans a 20% increase.
I think that must be an error or a misprint. I can’t believe that the Park District would try to increase its tax levy by 20%. Then again, I never would have thought the Park District would try to sell Hickory Lodge.
One thing in the article was clear. The meeting to discuss the proposed tax levy is scheduled for Monday, December 13 at 6:00 pm at the Carbondale Civic Center.
Comments are welcome.
New Paint at Hickory Lodge
After last week’s post on the upcoming Park District elections, I decided to visit Hickory Lodge. I was pleased to see the new paint on the balustrade. As I walked around, I noticed that the garage also got a paint job recently:
2011 Carbondale Park District Elections
The media focus has been on the elections for Carbondale mayor and city council, but three seats on the Carbondale Park District board will also be up for election on April 5, 2011.
Election packets are available at Hickory Lodge (1115 W. Sycamore). You must turn in a petition with fifty valid signatures to get on the ballot. Packets must be filed between December 13 and December 20.
The seats currently held by James Fralish, Angela Kazakevicius, Lawrence Erickson are up for election. Board positions are unpaid.
The person I spoke to told me “a couple” of people have picked up packets but she didn’t say how many. She also said that not all of the incumbents have picked up packets but she wouldn’t say which ones.
Though the park district is occasionally a source of controversy, at other times it operates in obscurity. Last month the district held a public hearing on debt consolidation and no one came. Two of five board members did not attend the hearing.
