Voters approve Butterfield Park District tax increase

Voters have given the Butterfield Park District the go-ahead to borrow nearly $3 million to purchase a vacant lot on the northeast corner of Butterfield Road and Route 53 near Glen Ellyn where a gas station had been proposed.

Unofficial results from all nine precincts Tuesday show 70 percent of voters supporting a tax increase to allow the district to borrow money and about 30 percent opposing it.

To fund the borrowing, the owner of $200,000 house will pay an extra $54 annually, or about $4.55 a month, for 20 years.

Officials say $1.5 million will go toward the purchase of the roughly 2.4-acre lot next to the park district's headquarters. There once were proposals to build a gas station and car wash on the property.

Roughly $500,000 will be dedicated to the creation of trails, gardens, passive recreation areas and programming space on the site.

The remaining $985,000 will be used to improve and update the district's other parks.

"We're really excited about it because ultimately it results in an impact in all of the parks in the district," said Bob Gans, chairman of the citizen group Friends of Butterfield Park District.

Since forming in 1965, the district has never had a referendum question for a tax increase. There are an estimated 9,600 residents living within district boundaries.