The Kewanee Park Board approved Ordinance 373 for a property tax levy for the Kewanee Park District at their monthly board meeting on Thursday.
Director of Parks Andrew Dwyer said that this year’s Equalized Assessed Value (EAV), a measure of property value for tax purposes in Illinois, jumped up $8 million over last year’s figure. In 2022, the EAV for the district was $97 million; this year’s figure is much higher at $105 million, and that will bring in extra funds that the district will be able to use, said Dwyer.
Dwyer said the funds can be used to offset the insurance costs, which have increased, as well as help offset the IMRF for the extra employees hired to work at the restaurant, which is now open year round.
But the minimum wage, which has increased a dollar a year for several years, has added about $40,000 to the Park District’s annual budget. Dwyer said that they will be able to keep the budget in such a way that they won’t have to lower or modify areas to offset the minimum wage hike.
“We have not effectively accounted for (minimum wage increase) in the past years. We’ve gotten creative and made some cuts and made some other creative decisions with our finances,” said Dwyer, but this year, the district will actually have the funds to apply the increase in the tax levy directly to the minimum wage increase.
This levy, he said, is going to encompass all of the things, such as the rising labor costs, without detracting from other programs and areas where the district has started to focus.
“The main factor that is a moving target is our capital for year in and year out,” he said.
In other board news:
-The board approved the designation of next year’s board meeting dates and times for 2024. The meetings will be held at 5 pm on the third Thursday of the month. The meeting dates can be found online and are posted on the office door.
-In Dwyer’s report, he updated the board on the restaurant hours. Dwyer said that the restaurant’s business has been brisk, but is slower on Mondays and Fridays. The hours could be adjusted at some point in the season. The restaurant will be closed on Dec. 24, Dec. 25, and Jan. 1, but open on the days in between.
-Dwyer has been working with park district attorney, Justin Raver, and the City of Kewanee over an abandoned alley off Rt. 81. The City will begin the formal petition to abandon the property, which is being maintained by a neighbor of Baker Park and the Park District. The neighbor has reached out to the Park District about purchasing a portion of the property and if the City is successful, the park district would immediately transfer the property to the neighbor. “It’s a smooth transition,” Dwyer told the board. “We don’t actually lose anything. We’ll get a nominal fee for the cost of the land.” About seven feet of the property would become the park’s land, he said. “We want to work with the neighbor on this,” said Dwyer.
-The State of Illinois has agreed to a 4 to 1 slope when they add the recreational trail on the north side of Rt. 81. They will also replace trees removed on the park’s right-of-way at a two to one ratio. Dwyer called the agreement “very beneficial to the park” since the Park District will receive an influx of trees with the agreement that they could be used in other parks if necessary. The State will also put in a pedestrian crosswalk at Lexington Avenue and Sixth Street. Dwyer’s rationale to the State was that a majority of residents reside on the south side of the highway, and a crosswalk connecting the south side to Baker Park and the recreational trail was a safety issue. The recreational trail is a 2025 state project, Dwyer said.
-The Park District is planning to hold an Appreciation Luncheon for the volunteers of the Windmont and Northeast lighting crews on Jan. 8 at the 19th Hole Restaurant. Dwyer told the board that while the lighting crew gives “a lot of credit to the Park District” for the lighting of the parks, it “pales in comparison to what they do.” Dwyer told the board he would like to make the appreciation lunch a new tradition.
