Elmhurst Rec Facilities 'Deficient For Decades': Official
ELMHURST, IL – An Elmhurst Park District official laid out Monday what a property tax hike would bring to the community.
“Quite frankly, this community has been deficient for decades in terms of recreational facilities as compared to other communities that the park district benchmarks itself against,” Jim Rogers, the district’s executive director, told the City Council.
The comparison towns include Naperville, Carol Stream. Glen Ellyn, Wheaton, Downers Grove and Woodridge, he said.
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In the Nov. 5 election, Elmhurst voters are set to decide on letting the district go $90 million into debt for improvements.
The property tax increase is projected to cost $317 a year for the owner of a house valued at $500,000, which is close to Elmhurst’s median. The tax is expected to last 25 years.
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Of the money, 95 percent is slated to go to replacing the Wagner Community Center, a project that is expected to cost $84 million.
The Wagner building at 615 West Ave. started as an elementary school in the 1950s. It was purchased by MacCormac Junior College in the mid-1980s, operating for a couple of decades as a college.
In 2004, the park district bought the building, converting it into a community center.
“It comes along with all the charm and features that you would expect of a 1950s elementary school,” Rogers told the council. “We have significant space constraints.”
With a new recreation center, the community would have a walking and jogging track; courts for pickleball, basketball and volleyball; a multisport indoor artificial athletic field; and space for gymnastics, dance, early childhood activities and other programs, according to the district.
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Rogers said most residents correctly see the Wagner building as serving children 12 and younger.
“We certainly don’t have the space for more programming, although I do like to give the aside that we have a very successful adult dance program that takes place at the Wagner Center, a span of ages from 22 to 95,” he said, adding that the 95-year-old joined the program 21 years ago.
The park district, Rogers said, is not seeking a tax increase because it’s struggling financially. To the contrary, its books are in “excellent” shape, he said.
This year, the district opened Pick Park, which is an acre in the Pick subdivision, the only neighborhood west of Route 83. And by year’s end, the park district aims to finish a dog park at 0S761 Old York Road.
Rogers said the park district can handle those smaller projects with the help of state grants. But to go into debt by $90 million, the park district must get voters’ consent, he said.
Now, Elmhurst Park District’s property tax rate is in the bottom third of DuPage County’s park districts. With the proposed increase, it would move to the bottom part of the top third, Rogers said.
The resulting improvements from the tax hike, he said, would contribute to Elmhurst’s overall economic health and vitality.
“We think it would make Elmhurst an even more attractive place to live, work and play,” he said.
The park district hasn’t placed a tax hike measure on the ballot since 1971.
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