Voters Say No To Joliet Park District Referendum: Election 2019

JOLIET, IL - Joliet Park District officials asked voters to approve a 58-percent property tax increase in Tuesday's consolidated elections. With 53 of 53 precincts of Will County reporting, the proposed tax increase had garnered 28 percent support while 72 percent of the voters were against it, according to unofficial totals.

A tiny percentage of Kendall County also voted in the election, but their totals didn't change the outcome. With four precincts reporting, 167 votes were in favor of the tax increase and 226 were against it.

Collectively, the voters sent a clear message to the Joliet Park District that Tuesday's proposed tax increase was outrageous. The measure had support from 2,189 voters but 5,522 were against it, according to unofficial results compiled by the Will County Clerk's Office.

Five years ago, voters in the Joliet Park District approved a spending measure to build the Nowell Park Recreation Center, an indoor facility that opened late last year on the city's east side, off Mills Road.

In the weeks leading up to the April 2 election, the Joliet Park District published a question and answer brochure in hopes of persuading more voters to support paying higher taxes to the Joliet Park District.

"Borrowing and construction costs continue to rise. The longer the Park District waits, the more it will cost to improve our local parks and recreation facilities. Furthermore, the Park District continues to draw down reserves to address rising operations and maintenance costs. This calendar year, the District will draw down its reserves by an estimated $321,012. And without additional funding, it is estimated that the District's reserves will need to be drawn down by $664,576 in 2019 and a total of $984,014 by 2020. This is unsustainable," the park district maintained.