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H-F park board refinances debt, reviews tax levy and accepts latest audit

The Homewood-Flossmoor Park Board handled major money matters at its Oct. 18 board meeting, reviewing a 2022 tax levy, selling general obligation bonds and accepting the audit report for the fiscal year ending April 30, 2022.

Tax levy

Karen Garrity, superintendent of finance and administration, did her best to “guesstimate” numbers in preparation for the 2022 levy. Cook County still hasn’t provided the 2021 levy numbers. Garrity said the proposed tax levy is $6,314,595 and reflects using best guess equalized assessed value (EAV) and including estimates for new property on the tax rolls.

The county is switching to a new property assessment process and getting a computer system upgrade. Tax bills that normally would have been in mailboxes in August haven’t been sent. 

Garrity said she hasn’t been given a definite date for when bills will be mailed, and this is delaying incoming tax revenue for the district. Garrity estimates 44% of the park board’s budget comes from property taxes.

The park board is expected to approve the proposed levy at the Dec. 6 meeting. Numbers must be reported to Cook County by Dec. 30. Garrity said the district’s 2021 EAV, estimated at $711,368,901 was a 5% increase over 2021. She used that number and added another 5% to come up with an estimated 2022 EAV of $746,937,346. 

She told park commissioners that all these numbers could be skewed once the county gives final numbers and makes its adjustment to the EAV and levy in late spring 2023.

GO bonds

The park district sold $1,061,000 in general obligation bonds to cover outstanding debt. These are rollover bonds that are sold on an annual basis. Of the six bidders, Park Ridge Community Bank had the lowest interest rate at 3.4%, said Aaron Gold of Speer Financial. He handled the bond sale for the district. He told park commissioners that he considered that a good rate considering the volatility of the markets.

Gold said the board will use $924,000 to cover the outstanding bond debt and will capture an additional $121,000 of new money for capital needs of the district.

Park audit

Tim Gavin of the auditing firm Lauterbach & Amen LLP presented commissioners with the 2021-22 audit for the period ending April 30, 2022. He said the district received an unmodified opinion which means no changes were necessary. The park district also received the certificate of achievement for excellence in financial reporting for this audit from the Government Finance Officers Association.

The audit shows the park district revenues were $11,240,776 with expenses of $8.8 million leaving a net balance of $2.5 million. The General Fund showed an increase this year of $1.1 million with an ending fund balance of almost $2.3 million, an increase of 90.6%.

The Park District’s total budget for the fiscal year beginning May 1, 2022, is $12.8 million, not including $7 million in capital repairs to the Ice Arena. 

The district in May issued a $5.5 million general obligation bonds sale with a 25-year term to partially fund the cost of upgrades to the H-F Ice Arena, but Park Board President Brent Bachus reminded commissioners of how the timing worked in the park district’s favor.

“Looking back on last year (2021), and how (when 2022) started we’re all just really nervous about a lot of things,” he said. But the board financed the bonds through a private sale lowering the interest rate to 3.84% from the expected 5% or more. Over the life of the bonds, the park district will be paying approximately $1.2 million less in interest.

“We are really in a nice strong position. It made me feel really good looking at this (audit),” Bachus said. “We said many times that there couldn’t be a worse time for the ice arena” to be shut down. In November 2021, the refrigeration system failed just as the hockey season was starting. 

“Well, I might argue: Could you imagine if that happened now — the cost of everything. Let’s try and refinance our debt now and see how that works,” he said jokingly, knowing how interest rates are on the rise.

The park board’s decisions “couldn’t have been better.  It’s just serendipitous sometimes,” he added.

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