Board Approves Ackerman Sports Complex Budget

The Glen Ellyn Park District Board voted 5-2 to approve the ASC budget at the August 18 meeting. I voted no on the ASC budget because of my concerns about the $20,000 White Sox rental fees for the batting cage area. The questions and concerns that I raised at the August 4 meeting were not addressed by staff or legal counsel at our August 18 meeting. If we allow a for-profit company to rent space in a park district facility, I think we need to charge rent that will cover our operating expenses and capital investment.

At our last meeting Director Atwell said the Board could approve just the fees at the August 18 meeting, which would allow staff to meet a marketing deadlines for the ASC brochure. He indicated that the Board could continue to discuss budget items and there was no deadline for approving the budget. Since my questions on the White Sox rental fees were unanswered, I felt that the Board should remove the White Sox rental fee from the budget or continue discussion at the next meeting.

Also as part of the discussion of the ASC budget, I recommended including the $10.5 million construction costs in the annual budget as part of debt service reduction. When the Board constructed Holes & Knolls mini-golf the capital costs were included in the annual operating budget each year. After a brief discussion, the Board decided not to included capital costs in the ASC budget.