At the regular monthly meeting of the Glencoe Park District Board of Park Commissioners on December 13, 2011, the Board approved payment of the Park District’s Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF) net pension obligation liability, which will save taxpayers approximately $27,000 in future pension costs over the next 20 years.

IMRF provides employees of local governments and school districts in Illinois with retirement, disability, and death benefits. Every dollar paid to IMRF employees comes from three sources: 60 cents from investment returns, 26 cents from IMRF employers, and 14 cents from IMRF members who contribute throughout their careers. In 2008, substantial investment losses significantly increased employer contribution amounts. To alleviate the effects of these losses on participating employers, in February 2009 the IMRF Board approved an optional phase-in contribution rate for employers. At that time, the Park District elected the phase-in rate for 2010 and 2011.

In January 2012, with a healthy fund balance, the Park District had the financial ability to pay off the net pension obligation liability, which totaled $54,535. Paying the liability in full at this time saves the District around $27,000 in interest that would have accrued over a period of twenty years. Starting January 2012, the Park District will now pay the higher Annual Required Contribution (ARC) rate to meet the current IMRF obligations.

In 2011 the Glencoe Park District began an evaluation of the energy use at the Takiff Center. After reviewing the district's energy costs, facility staff determined a need for this type of study. The evaluation, completed by the Illinois Smart Energy Design Assistance Center from the University of Illinois, will help staff better understand the energy usage at the Takiff Center and present possible money saving alternatives that are available. The evaluation was completed free of charge to the district and will provide an energy road map for several years to come.

Click here to view the Takiff Center Energy Evaluation

As a local government agency, the Glencoe Park District is supported by community tax dollars. Glencoe residents allocate a small percentage of their annual tax bill to the Park District. The Tax Breakdown Chart (see link below) illustrates the 2010 tax allocations. The Real Estate Tax Bill Calculation demonstrates the dollar amount allocated to the Park District from a sample Glencoe household property tax bill.

2010 Tax Breakdown Chart

2010 Sample Real Estate Tax Bill Calculation

The Glencoe Park District Board of Commissioners formally approved its “Strategic Road Map” at the September 20, 2011 regular board meeting. 

To download the Strategic Road Map dated September 20, 2011, CLICK HERE

This plan document, which builds off the framework of an earlier Strategic Plan identifies 32 specific initiatives which will help the Glencoe Park District better serve the needs of the community and Park District patrons. Initiatives are grouped into four categories:

• Our Government.  Our plan to make our unit of government more effective, to deliver better services at a competitive price, and to open government to the public in the spirit of transparency and accountability.
• Our Community.  Our outline of initiatives that will strengthen opportunities for meaningful community input to ensure that the Glencoe Park District Board and Staff priorities are fully aligned with those we serve. 
• Our Parks and Facilities.  Our strategy to provide a plan to be wise stewards of our strategic assets, with full input from the community to better serve needs of users and patrons. We also want to fully leverage our new Takiff Center to increase usage, and to make it grow into a true community center for Glencoe.
• Our Programs.  Our plan to leverage successful programs, to do a critical review of programs that are unsuccessful, and to develop a model which does a better job in successfully launching programs where there is demonstrated market demand for programs that can compete successfully.

These plans are highly interdependent. We cannot even begin to think about the way our unit of government should be structured and run without deep consideration of the support that the community needs and the best way to deliver those services. Likewise we cannot fully develop and manage our parks, facilities and programs without a deep understanding of what our communities, patrons and target market expect from us.

We will report the status of these plans though direct written communications or through our website, and hope you will provide any input, insight, or suggestions you have over the coming months and years.