Hampshire Park District to increase costs, reduce programs, cut staff
Hampshire residents refused to open their wallets Tuesday when they rejected a pair of tax measures on the ballot. Now, funding to maintain current parks and programs - and revenue to plug a budget deficit - will likely come from the back pockets of those who use the facilities and programs most often.
Park district officials say fee increases, as well as cutbacks, are needed to operate the park district after voters said no to a request to borrow $4.9 million and another to increase the park district's limiting tax rate.
Park commissioners at a meeting Wednesday night directed the staff to fill a projected $60,000 budget deficit through decreased employee expenses, increased program and rental fees, and the reduction of specific budget line items. Park District Executive Director Robert Whitehouse said staff would make recommendations at the Feb. 17 board meeting. No action was taken Wednesday and Whitehouse said staff would solidify numbers and other details in the next 10 days.
"It is as simple as, "There is a $60,000 hole between revenues and expenses and how are we going to fill that gap?'" Whitehouse said Thursday.
The failed effort to raise the district's limiting tax rate about 5 cents per $100 of a home's equalized assessed value - from about 9 cents to 14 cents - would have generated about $150,000 in revenue, Whitehouse said. About one-third of the revenue was earmarked to balance the budget.
Park Commissioner Eileen Fleury said the district has not raised its tax rate for more than six decades and voters last rejected a tax hike in 2004.
"If you expect to run a park district with the same rate you ran on in 1948, it is going to be a challenge," Fleury said before Wednesday's meeting. "At this point, cutting staff means cutting programs. It is a juggling act."
Fleury said the park district employs five full-time staff members and a part-time staff that works an equivalent of eight full-time positions.
"We won't be able to bring in any new employment opportunities; we're having a hard time keeping the staff we already have. There will definitely be a reduction in man hours and a possible reduction in staff if we can't find the revenue," she said.
The park district had also asked to borrow $4.9 million to add 20 acres to Bruce Ream Memorial Park, a 20.14-acre park that is home to Hampshire's annual Coon Creek Days. Fleury said the park - particularly the gravel parking area - is in need of upgrades for functional as well as safety reasons.
The bond money would have enabled the park district to pave and stripe a new parking lot, as well as address drainage issue that interfere with some of the park district's programs.
"Bruce Ream was not going to be a luxury," Fleury said. "One of the things we wanted to do for the community was expand and give the community more space and now we can't. It was the perfect opportunity to purchase adjacent land and now we have to give that up."
The bond issue also would have made way for the district to complete the expansion of the 28-acre Tuscany Woods Park.
The board will discuss and vote on recommendations at its next board meeting, scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 17, at the Hampshire Park District, 390 South Ave.