Most of us are aware of the long term effects of indiscriminate spending when our income has been reduced and we carry a large debt. Unfortunately the Mount Prospect Park District appears to be completely unaware of the concept.
When we think of out-of-control government spending, I doubt that many of us consider that our local park district could be the source of millions of dollars of unnecessary expenditures.
With a current debt load in the area of $33 million, the MPPD is engaged in a quiet, unrestrained spending frenzy. In April, the park distinct approved, and recently began construction, on a Veterans Memorial fountain in Lions Park. The price tag is nearly $600,000, not counting ongoing maintenance. How does the Park District Board justify non-essential spending of that magnitude considering their debt load? The Board says our veterans have waited long enough for this honor. No one argues that our vets deserve this and every honor we can offer but this project has been on the table for 17 years. Why spend this money now?
Other MPPD spending under consideration for 2012 include $285,000 for new lights at Melas Park and $500,000 for artificial turf at Prospect High School.
The icing on the cake is a proposal currently under consideration to spend up to $5 million to upgrade the Mount Prospect Public Golf Course. While the irrigation system legitimately needs more than $1 million in repairs, an additional $5 million is under consideration solely to upgrade a golf course the Daily Herald reader's rated as The Best Golf Course in both 2011 and 2012.
The proposed upgrade includes moving the driving range to Melas Park for an additional $1 million. I suppose that explains the need for those new lights!
If the budget posted for 2012 plays out as presented, this will be the first year in the past five that the park district doesn't spend $3 million to $5 million more than they take in. Nearly 25 percent ($4.7 million) of the projected expendures for 2012 are allocated to “bonds and interest payments” yet the board doesn't seem to hesitate to add to that load. It appears they believe that their -- our -- resources are unlimited. All of this under the watchful eye of a chief executive officer who enjoys an annual salary of $163,000 and 26 days paid vacation.
The Mount Prospect Park District does not publish their meeting agenda. It is posted to their web site only a few days before the meetings take place, making it difficult if not impossible for residents-AKA taxpayers - to participate on any meaningful level, if at all. That seems to be the goal of the current Park District Board. Even agendas handed out at the meetings do not indicate if a topic is being introduced, under discussion or up for final vote. The minutes of only four 2012 meetings are posted to their website: http://www.mppd.org/. No minutes prior to February 2012 are available online. Residents who want to be involved have few resources from which to scrape together what the Board is up to or has been considering.
Hopefully this letter will change that. Park district meetings are held the last Wednesday of each month at 7 p.m. at Central Community Center, 1000 W. Central Rd. in Mt. Prospect. All residents of Mt. Prospect, Arlington Heights, Des Plaines and Elk Grove Village should make of point of attending, insisting on straight answers to their questions, and putting a stop to the fiscal irresponsibility of the MPPD board.
At the very least, we should all demand full disclosure, fiscal accountability, and transparency from this Park District Board. We cannot afford to continue to allow them to fly under our radar.
Literally. We can't afford it!