Budget Waste Addressed at Dec. 1 Meeting

Commissioner Kinzler and I brought up concerns about unnecessary spending in the budget during the Matters from Commissioners portion of Tuesday's meeting. Some of the items that we addressed include:

• Four Glen Ellyn Park District employees have PD-owned cars that they are allowed to take home and use off-hours. Kinzler talked to 3 other local PDs to see how other PD handle private staff cars. The GEPD is the only PD of those that has more than one private car. It is customary for the Executive Director to have a car, but not other employees. Staff pointed to several north side suburbs who have multiple cars for employees.
  
• The 2010 budget has over $26,500 in conference expenses for staff and commissioners.
• The 2010 budget has over $19,500 in meeting dues and subscriptions for staff members.
• There is a $56,000 increase in employee health insurance costs for 2010.
  
• Business meeting expenses (lunches) are not identified as a line item in the budget but show up on our monthly voucher reports. In October we had $877 in business meeting expenses
• The 2010 budget has over $10,000 for staff uniforms. Voucher lists show bills paid to LL Bean Corporate.
  
• We spent $48,000 in telephone costs in 2009, and this will rise to $63,000 for 2010. Many employees have PD cell phones or Blackberries.

These are areas where the PD can eliminate waste and cut back on spending, especially important given the cost overruns on the Ackerman Sports Complex, the extent of which are still unknown.

In our earlier budget meetings, staff explained that significant cuts had been made in the Parks Department budget in order to save money. Staff explained that maintenance hours would be reduced. According to staff, this would result in the garbage being picked up less frequently in the parks, the grass mowed less often, fewer fields striped for sports and more reliance on parent volunteers for athletic field preparation.

I said at the meeting last night that I want the Parks budget restored so that there will not be cuts in services. This includes additional money for these line items to move back to 2009 levels:

• $10,375 in Part Time Maintenance
  
• $2,000 for Playground Maintenance
  
• $1,100 for Seed, Fertilizer & Sod
  
• $4,000 for Trees, Shrubs and Flowers
  

I also want to add several items that are not included in the current draft of the budget. Most of these items are on the Glen Ellyn Park District Comprehensive Plan and address safety, accessibility and park maintenance issues.

• Restore the 9-acre oak savanna at Maryknoll Park. The PD agreed to do this as part of an intergovernmental agreement with the Forest Preserve, but it was never done.
  
• $5,000 for a path from the Spalding Park playground to the parking lot for ADA accessibility
• For Stacy Park, a fence along busy Geneva Road.
  
• $20,000 for Village Green backstops and fencing for seating areas. Staff identified this as a safety issue.
• Replacement park benches at the Danby Park playground
• All natural areas need garbage and invasive species removal. This includes Manor Park, Ackerman Woods, Perry Nature Preserve, Gault Sanctuary, Ellynwood Preserve, Danby Park, and Panfish Playground. I've previously suggested a volunteer program for work days at neighborhood parks as a low-cost approach to this problem.