Opposes tax hike sought by Arlington Hts. Park District

In reference to the $48 million referendum for park improvements I just want to state my opposition to this.

This is the wrong time to ask the taxpayers to pay taxes on this amount of money. At a time when we are in a recession and millions of people are out of work and there are millions of homes in foreclosure. Things are not getting any better.

In 2001 the park district borrowed $15 million and that loan will not be paid off until four years from now (2015). And now they are asking the taxpayers to come up with another $48 million which will not be paid off until 25 years from now.

The park district should tighten their belt and live within their means like everyone else. Chicago and all over the country are cutting back on spending. I think that the plan is a nice plan but is something we should not pay for at this time.

The park district has money to refurbish some of the buildings. Also, they have a AAA bond rating and they can sell municipal bonds (which are tax free to the investor) up to $11 million. They don’t need to be tearing down buildings and build new ones in their place and spending money on improving the playgrounds and jogging paths.

All these things are nice but not needed at this time. Doing these things and passing the bill to the taxpayers for $48 million is unacceptable. In the future we can go over this plan when the economy is better and make a decision then.

Pat Pontrelli

Arlington Heights