By Karen Haave
Peotone Park District’s referendum for a tax rate increase failed at the polls for a second time on November 5, in a 1,113-to-963 vote. The referendum sought approval of a .0547 rate hike that would have increased taxes $18 a year for every $100,000 of the Fair Market Value of a home.
Officials said prior to the election all funding would have been allocated to improve park maintenance, repair/replace properties that have been vandalized, additional capital improvements, and repair/replace park equipment. It also would have helped establish a retirement fund for full-time employees.
But the proposition couldn’t muster enough support for a green light in a community notorious for being anti-referendum.
In Peotone Precinct 1, it went down 435-397, a 38-vote margin. In Peotone Precinct 2, the vote was 505-443, a 62-vote difference. And in Will Precinct I, it was defeated 173-123, for a 50-vote loss. Total ballots cast were 2,076, edging the referendum out by a 150-vote margin.
The level of support wasn’t much better when village voters rejected the proposal in a 260-214 vote in the Primary Election on March 19.
Park officials had been hopeful they could get their message across this time and convince residents there is a real need for a rate hike. The increase would have generated an estimated $64,000 of tax revenue to the park district annually.
Peotone Park District maintains 20 acres of property in the Village of Peotone, with four playgrounds and sports fields. That includes West Street, Division Street, Bate Park, and Westgate Park, as well as baseball and softball fields, a skate park, basketball, tennis, hockey, and volleyball courts, the main park building, a nature area and pond.
Peotone Park Board President Barbara Sim did not respond to a request for comment on the referendum outcome or the board’s plans for the future.