In an effort to find money to help pay for the development of a 5.67-acre parcel of land at Jaycee/Ehlert Park, Brookfield officials have proposed levying a new tax.
In addition to the new tax, Brookfield would be forced to scale back the park improvements somewhat and shuffle money from other line items in the 2008 village budget to cover what is now expected to be a $1.2 million to $1.4 million project.
“We’re looking at the $1.2 to 1.4 million mark where we can still create a successful park and hold the line on the budget,” said Assistant Village Manager Keith Sbiral, who presented the plan to village trustees Monday night.
According to Sbiral the village could raise $150,000 toward the project in 2008 by levying a special recreation tax, which is allowed by state statute. Illinois law allows municipalities and park districts to levy a tax on properties of 4 cents per $100 of equalized assessed value for the purposes of funding recreation opportunities for handicapped residents.
Earlier this year, Brookfield joined the South East Association for Special Parks and Recreation (SEASPAR). The $60,000 per year cost of belonging to the organization was taken directly from the village’s general operating fund.
By levying a special recreation tax, Sbiral said, that $60,000 will be freed up for the Ehlert Park project in 2008, and he stated that the project easily included another $90,000 in improvements that would benefit those with special recreation needs.
In subsequent years, Sbiral said, the tax could be used to complete park upgrades in a way that was compatible with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Sbiral also recommended that the village transfer $136,000 from its Intergovernmental Personnel Benefit Cooperative (IPBC) reserve. The IPBC is a health insurance cooperative in which the Village of Brookfield participates. According to Sbiral the village has a surplus in that fund. By taking $136,000 out of the IPBC fund, the village will still have enough money in the fund to fund an emergency claim.
“It leaves us in a comfortable area,” Sbiral said.
Sbiral said that trustees could also cut out another $100,000 from the 2008 budget by reducing the amount allocated for the village manager’s contingency, legal fees, technology improvements, fuel, community events and building maintenance.
The only other option, Sbiral said, was to dig into the village’s general fund reserve, a move he said he wouldn’t recommend.
“The challenge is to find an additional sum of money, and it’s going to require sacrifices,” said Village President Michael Garvey. “We’re going to have to tighten our belts, but we want to move forward and develop the land in a fashion we’ll be proud of. If the board can back these financial moves, we can get substantial improvements that meet the requirements of the grants.”
Trustees made no comment on either the staff recommendations for funding or options for scaling back the park improvements.
The grants Garvey referred to were two federal Open Space Lands Acquisition and Development (OSLAD) grants the village has received in connection with the property. In 2003, the village received $750,000 to go toward the purchase of the property. In 2006, Brookfield received just under $400,000 to improve the land.
At the time of the grant application, developing the new park land was pegged at about $800,000. However, last month, the village’s project management firm, Hitchcock Design Group, estimated the cost of the improvements at over $1.6 million.
That estimate sent officials scrambling to find areas of the 2008 budget to cut. Fortunately, Sbiral said, the village had already prepared a budget for its 2008 fiscal year as it prepared to adjust the fiscal year to the calendar year.
“If we had not done that planning, we’d be completely blind for the 2008 year,” Sbiral said.
Sbiral said that Hitchcock Design Group would draw new park improvement plans based on the funding realities, but had no specifics on changes at Monday night’s village board meeting.
Former Trustee Linda Stevanovich, speaking during the public comment portion of the meeting, asked whether the proposed skate park would be eliminated. She pleaded for its inclusion in the final plan, saying that the skate park would “meet the needs of a certain part of the community we’re not meeting in any other way.”
“It feeds a part of the population we’re not reaching right now,” Stevanovich said.
Sbiral said that while the skate park would likely be scaled back, there was no plan to eliminate it from the final plan.