Hampshire says no to both park referendums

Hampshire residents refused to reach into their pockets to pay for a pair of Hampshire Park District requests to pay for development of two parks and additional programming.

With all four precincts reporting, unofficial tallies show about 63 percent of voters said no to a bond issue to expand the village's largest park and pay down debts, while about 68 percent said no to a higher tax rate for programming.

The park district had asked voters to approve a $4.9 million bond issue to enable the park district to fulfill the master plan for the Bruce Ream Memorial Park. The higher tax rate was proposed to enable the park district to operate its parks and offer additional programs such as ice skating and lacrosse.