In Oak Park, we have two perennial complaints — parking and property taxes. In spite of our perpetual complaints about the latter, our property taxes have been a huge factor in making Oak Park special. We get a lot of great services that aren’t readily apparent to the entire community.
If you don’t have kids in the public schools, it’s easy to discount all the wonderful services they provide to our community. If you’re not a senior citizen, it’s easy to be unaware of the services Oak Park Township offers to our seniors. The services that are important to you, you can readily appreciate, but what happens to all of our tax dollars? It’s easy to assume that we don’t get the bang for our buck that we feel we deserve, so we complain.
One entity that almost all of us are aware of is our park district. Most of us appreciate the part of it that is most prominent in our lives: the swimming pools, the playing fields, the skating rink, the gymnastics center, the Conservatory, the field houses and their programs, the passive beauty of the parks, the tennis/pickleball courts, the special events of all sorts, the mansions, the senior programs, and last, but not least, the new Community Rec Center (CRC) with its many options. Seldom do we consider just how extensive the programming is. The park district does all of this and more while receiving just 4.7% of our property taxes.
It appears to me that all of this is not fully appreciated by our community at large. The park district has to operate in a land-locked, land-limited community. Yet ours is one of the most renowned park districts in the country for a mid-sized community, also as one of the most environmentally-conscious park districts. Check out their awards. There are many.
One thing, though, is missing in the Park District’s programming: Phase 2 of the CRC, offering an indoor pool for lap swimmers, and a warm-water pool for seniors and the less-abled for aqua therapy. I’ve heard the arguments: there are other options; it’s a waste of the taxpayers’ money; I don’t swim; and other complaints. I would like to address these.
The YMCA, FFC, and potentially the High School. When I checked the pool schedule for the Y, I found that unless you choose to swim very early in the morning, there are limited options for lap swimmers. They have swim lessons, family swims, and other pool activities. And the membership fees range up to $63/month. Availability is limited and, for some, expensive. FFC is expensive, $139/month.
The big community argument is for the park district to share facilities with the high school when the new expansion is completed, including a new deluxe swimming pool. But they will have swimming classes throughout the day, M-F for students. After and before school, the girls and boys swim, diving and water polo teams will be working out and practicing. My understanding is the school and the swim community have visions of our swim teams being competitive with the top teams in the state. If so, available times for community lap swimming are going to be very limited, probably in flux, and unclear to most of the community. While the idea has great appeal given our focus on property taxes, the reality may very well be unrealistic.
Oak Park has no warm water pool. As a senior citizen, I am very conscious of this omission. Our senior population is growing, so the need for this option is also growing. The less abled also deserve a program that can address some of their needs. The closest warm-water pools, to my knowledge, are either at Loyola Fitness Center in Maywood or at the Gottlieb Fitness Center in Melrose Park. Both require monthly memberships, which will challenge our lower-income citizens, and both are some distance from Oak Park.
The issue in Oak Park always comes down to property taxes. Understood. It’s a challenge for homeowners with tight budgets. Because the costs for maintenance and utilities for a water component are high, the park district would have to raise property taxes $90/year on the median value home in Oak Park. Even though that comes to about $1.73/week, it will not be appreciated by some.
But the specific, tangible benefit for the community is worth that outlay. It will make a difference. Oak Park is a community full of giving and caring people. If we perceive a clear and specific need and benefit for our citizens and our community, I hope and believe that most of us would be willing to make that sacrifice.
Terry Grace is a resident of Oak Park.