St. Charles Park District wants about $23 million

All the details haven't been ironed out yet, but St. Charles park officials said Wednesday that they expect to ask taxpayers for about $23 million in a Feb. 5 referendum.

If supported by voters, the bond issue would fund several capital projects -- renovations and construction of a new swimming pool are among them -- that have been on the district's to-do list for years.

Park board member Jim Cooke said officials narrowed in on the $23 million figure after removing a couple of items from their immediate wish list and accounting for reserves the district intends to kick in.

The amount is within a $20 million to $25 million target officials outlined last month when they voted to put the tax increase question on the ballot.

"We're still trying to pare it down a little bit, but we're looking in the $23 million range," Cooke said Wednesday. "These are all important projects that we have carefully considered for a number of years. We've researched (the referendum) from numerous angles."

A $23 million request would cover the most expensive projects: construction of a $10.9 million aquatic center at Campton Hills Park, $6.06 million in renovations to the 70-year-old Pottawatomie Pool and a 12,000-square-foot nature center estimated to cost between $3.7 million and $5.2 million.

Cooke said officials decided this week to exclude a $2 million component for land purchases from the referendum because they currently have no prospective properties.

They also agreed to not fund a potential effort to lease space at the Illinois Youth Center, now owned by Kane County, for park programs. That idea is still in the preliminary stages, Cooke said.

For now, it is difficult to determine exactly how much the bond issue would cost individual taxpayers. Bill Connor, the district's business manager, said he is working on estimates expected to fall between $59 and $100 a year for the owner of a $300,000 house.

Connor said the district probably would issue two rounds of bonds over five years to coincide with the projects as they happen. The debt repayment most likely would be "evened out" over about 20 years, he said.

Park officials expect to have more specifics in coming weeks.