The Park District of Forest Park unanimously passed its Fiscal Year 2026-27 budget on July 16. The budget draft was presented and discussed by the board at its June 8 meeting.
The budget increases spending by 5%.
“The responsibility of using taxpayer funds comes with a lot of responsibility, and we at the park district take that responsibility very seriously,” said Jeffery Murphy, business manager, at the June 8 district board meeting.
Increased revenue sources in the new budget are from the increase in rental fees for the soccer field, which has been highly contested by the families of the youth soccer league, and the influx of softball field rentals that get booked nearly daily, Jackie Iovinelli, executive director of the park district told the Review on July 17.
The soccer field is expected to bring in $40,000 more revenue than last year’s $35,000, a 14.29% increase, and the softball field $5,000 over last year’s $500.
Last year the park board spent heavily on infrastructure repairs to the Aquatic Center. That lessens needed spending on the facility in the year ahead. Iovinelli said sand filters, stairs and a notable leak were all taken care of last year. Altogether those repairs cost the district $300,000. This fiscal year the major investment will be the water heating systems at a cost of $100,000, she said.
In recent years, the district invested heavily in refurbishing the four pocket parks it took responsibility for from the village government. Now the last of those small parks have been updated. This will allow the district to turn its attention to renovations at the main park on Harrison Street, Iovinelli said in June.
Those projects at the park will be split between this fiscal year and next; the only way the park district will be able to afford it, she added.
Brought up during public comment at the July 16 meeting, Forest Park resident Hannah Dallmann questioned why the softball tournament salaries were going from $32,000 to $2,000, a 93.75% decrease.
Later during that meeting in his commissioner’s comment, Vice President Roy Sansone said that due to a deliberate effort to increase volunteerism for the No Gloves Tournament, the park district was able to save some money.
“It seemed like a few years we kind of got away from that,” Sansone said. “We were using staff more, and we made a concerted effort to increase the volunteerism.”
Every year the park district sets aside some money in the rec fund for unforeseen damages and repairs around the parks.
“There’s been a lot of very difficult conversations that we’ve had, but the one conversation that we’ve always had is we’re going to open this facility,” said Iovinelli of the park district board’s commitment to the park district facilities in June.
The return on investment for the park district’s budget is a community that people want to live in, said Iovinelli.
“When you move to a community, the first thing you’re moving to your community for is how good are your school districts and how good are your parks, and that’s one thing that we wanted to invest that money into… because that increases your home value,” Iovinelli said at the June meeting.
The National Park and Rec Association said that for every one resident in Forest Park, the park district spends approximately $480 annually, Murphy said in June. “That’s pretty impressive.”
“The park is in a very healthy state budget-wise, which is very good thing to be able to say,” President Kristen Lyons said at the July 16 meeting. “This budget will get audited in the future, but, going forward for this year, it’s in a good spot.”
Emma Bradford is an intern for NEWSWELL CHICAGO through Report for America’s Local News Internship Program.