***Updated on March 9 with Pleasant Ridge Park upgrade figures provided after the original publication***
With a room full of Collinsville Area Recreation District employees on hand at a special meeting of the CARD Board of Commissioners, Director Terry Wilson cited a list of cuts he has overseen to save the district money.
Eradicating a $480,000 land contract, refinancing debt, eliminating seven unnecessary positions in the district and no longer paying unnecessary sales tax were some of the items on the list. But it has not been enough, Wilson said, direction from the Board was needed to address major shortfalls in operating funds.
“I’ve made recommendations of I want to do. I need direction from the board on what kind of policy they want me to execute to make this work,” Wilson said. “If you have a plan, I have yet to hear it.”
After the Board returned from a closed session, President David Tanzyus announced that Wilson believed there was a way to avoid the crisis.
“We can get ourselves functioning for the summer,” Tanzyus said. “We have averted the immediate crisis, at least until June.”
Wilson suggested that surpluses in the Splash City and Golf (Arlington Greens) funds be moved into the Bonds and Interest fund and money shifted from that fund to pay salaries. The Board had to agree to the transfer after previously giving direction to Wilson not to allow transfers between funds, even when legally allowed.
The result of the transfers will be the ability to hire a yet-to-be determined number of seasonal employees for the Parks department to assist with the 10 baseball and softball tournaments to be hosted at the Jaycee Sports Complex this year. The tournaments are expected to generate revenue, which may allow the Parks department to keep operating at its current level for an undetermined amount of time.
CARD is in a difficult financial position because of the referendum passed last spring that reduced the district’s operating budget by 25 percent, Wilson said.
“The numbers used to request the cut were not good numbers,” Wilson said. “It has taken me 18 months to get a handle on the district’s finances, and I’m still finding surprises.”
Former business director Rosemary Barczewski was dismissed in Oct. 2012. The management of the books and the current district employees’ difficulties piecing together the financial trail of numerous transfers between accounts before Barczewski left has been discussed at CARD meetings, although Barczewski has never been implicated for wrong doing.
Barczewski filed a lawsuit against CARD for wrongful termination in Nov. 2013. A Democrat, Barczewski said the Republican leaning board discriminated against her for political reasons. Mark Achenbach and Jeanne Lomax have joined the board since Barczewiski’s dismissal.
Wilson rhetorically asked Tanzyus, Mark Achenbach, Patrick Collins and Jeanne Lomax, public supporters of the referendum, if they had any regrets about pushing through the referendum.
“Knowing what you know now, would you still so strenuously back the referendum?” Wilson asked.
Following the meeting Achenbach, who spearheaded the referendum, said he had no regrets.
“I’ll always be defensive about the referendum,” Achenbach said.
Examining the district’s finances before he became a Board member was like “looking at an elephant through a straw,” Achenbach said. In particular he cited difficulty deciphering the accounts and, what he said, were Freedom of Information Act requests that were made arduous by the staff that preceded the current staff.
The difficult financial situation the district is in currently is not a result of the referendum, anyway, Achenbach said. The 25 percent decrease in tax levies for the operational funds will not take effect until this summer.
Wilson said the current state of affairs should serve notice for the difficulties in the near future.
“If we’re hurting now, what’s it going to be like when it does kick in?”
The answer is to be more efficient, Achenbach said. “None of this is easy. The problem is to find where we need efficiencies.”
Several CARD employees spoke during the meeting Monday, saying their departments had made all of the sacrifices they could. Some spoke of taking on additional jobs in the district to do their part to cut operations as much as possible.
Audience member Rick Rehg, of Collinsville, suggested those who led the referendum go back to CARD residents, with the experience gained since the referendum, and ask if the residents would like increase their taxes. After the meeting, Achenbach said he would be happy to show anyone who asks the process of getting a referendum on the ballot, but he will not help with the process.
As noted on the “Yes to Lower CARD Taxes” website, the Board of Commissioners could also get a referendum on the ballot by passing a Board of Commissioner Resolution. The resolution would require the approval from three of the five current Board members.
The people running the referendum misstated facts, Rehg said. “If someone is asked if you want your taxes lowered, of course you do, but they were misrepresenting what was happening.”
Although he cannot vouch for everyone that worked on the campaign, Achenbach said, he was not dishonest. “Why would you have to make something up when there was so much that was just crazy?” Achenbach said. The “Yes to Lower CARD Taxes” indicates the group’s opinion that the referendum would not negatively impact services at Splash City or Willoughby Farm, but does not address the remainder of district operations.
CARD to submit competing projects for PARC grant
Prior to the discussion of CARD’s difficult financial position, the Board voted unanimously to an additional project to its Park and Recreational Facility Construction grant request to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
After voting on Feb. 18 to submit an Arlington Greens project for a possible PARC grant, the Board decided to submit another project to IDNR, this one for Pleasant Ridge Park, in Maryville. Both projects are valued at around $900,000. If CARD receives a grant, IDNR will choose which of the two it prefers and provide 75 percent of the funding – approximately $675,000.
The Arlington Greens project would make enhancements to the facility and course, to make them compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act and to make it easier for the disabled to use. Work would include re-paving cart paths to provide a smooth transition from path to fairways ($315,000), restroom renovations and a small addition ($310,000) to accommodate an area for a pro shop and the larger area needed to make the restrooms ADA compliant ($65,000). A golf simulator ($65,000) would also be purchased. The simulator could be used to generate revenue in the winter months, when very little money flows into Arlington Greens, Wilson said.
“I look at the grant and try to find the way that I can generate the most revenue,” Wilson said. “We are catering to Boots on the Green.”
The Boots on the Green Tournament is a 72-person, able-bodied and disabled military golf tournament at Arlington Greens. The event this may will be the fifth-annual at Arlington.
Achenbach and Jeannie Lomax voted against submitting the PARC application for the golf course enhancements. Achenbach said the cart path re-paving was a re-routing of the paths with the purpose of delaying maintenance on the existing paths. Maintenance work at the course comes from the golf fund and would adversely affect the revenues of Arlington Greens.
A frequent critic of the golf course, Achenbach pointed to the declining number of total number of golf games played and total revenue over the past few years as the reason he believes the course may need to be turned over to outside management in the future.
Expenses at the course have decreased faster than revenue over the past several years, allowing the course to turn an operating profit last fiscal year. With three months remaining in the current fiscal year, the course has turned a $49,000 operating profit.
Achenbach points out that the course is not operating at a profit if you consider that it is not able to entirely repay its annual bond debt of $343,500 from operations. The CARD portion of Social Security taxes are paid from the district’s Social Security Fund, not the Golf Fund. If these are factored in, the course is not making a profit.
Despite the Boards often repeated focus on concentrating spending on items that can generate revenue, the vote to apply for a PARC grant for Pleasant Ridge Park was unanimous. The additions to the park are not expected to generate revenue.
The previous Board made a commitment to the people of Maryville when it built Pleasant Ridge Park, Achenbach, a Maryville resident, said. Adding more items from the park’s master plan is continuing that commitment, he said.
The number of people of who use the golf course versus the number at Pleasant Ridge Park was also a reason Achenbach cited. Arlington is on pace to have about 25,000 golf games played this fiscal year. The exact number of people who use the parks is not known. Wilson estimated that Pleasant Ridge is currently one of the least used parks in the district. Achenbach was unsure how many people use the park.
The list of additions to the park include paving a new road to connect the current road to area of the park that is currently inaccessible ($294,000), a vehicle bridge on the new road ($250,000) provide parking for the open field to which the new road will lead ($63,825) providing electric to the new area ($28,000), running a water line for potable water ($70,000), a fire hydrant ($3,400), running a water line for the fire hydrant ($82,500) drinking fountains ($18,000), earth works to accommodate the project ($50,000), and traffic signs ($1,150). All estimates were generated by Achenbach.
The fact that the park is owned by CARD, and not leased, was another factor in his decision to put the request before the Board, Achenbach said. CARD leases the Jaycee Sports Complex, Glidden Park, Morris Hills Park and Woodland Park from the City of Collinsville. The lease expires in 2029.
The investment in Pleasant Ridge Park is indicative of his philosophy that the parks department is about more than just making money, it’s about providing the most good to the most people, Achenbach said. The additions at the park may encourage other organizations to donate pavilions or other items. “We need to put ourselves in position to be helped by other people,” Achenbach said.
As a presentation Monday by Superintendent of Parks Kevin Brown made clear, his crew, reduced by 2/3 in the past year, will be unable to properly maintain the existing facilities if season employees cannot be added. If Pleasant Ridge is expanded and no staff added, there is a question about how the $900,000 upgrades and the park, doubled in area, can be maintained.
Wilson spoke with a representative of IDNR Tuesday who said the priority for the PARC grant is fixing older structures for some type of indoor recreation. Grant requests, however, are not restricted to that purpose.
