Journal & Topics Media Group

Park District Plans Small, Two-Year Bond Issuance


After spending several months determining what renovation and construction projects they’d like to consider, members of the Park Ridge Park District faced the next step — how to afford their next work.

This month the district plans a sale of $1.43 million in general obligation bonds to Park Ridge Community Bank.

Under the property tax caps that limit increasing taxes without taxpayer permission in Cook County, school and park districts are allowed to maintain the bonding power they had when the tax caps were first imposed.

In the park district’s case, when old bond issues are retired, a limited replacement of bonds can be sold.

It’s been a complicated set of calculations for Superintendent of Business & Finance Sandra DeAngelus and her staff.

Their investment consultant, Bob Lewis from PMA, spent several meetings orienting the four new board members on how the process works, and discussed market strategy in December as the board passed its budget for 2018.

Market volatility, in the first year of President Donald Trump’s administration, has been less predictable than normal. Lewis had discussed a lot of options for selling bonds, in the public sector or as a private sale.

There were two other choices — whether to sell half of the bonds on a single year retirement and the other half next year, or to sell the full amount on a two-year issue. Costs to the board are different in each choice but were considered to be equivalent.

In the end, he told the board on Thursday, Feb. 15, either term of sale, one year or two, would bring the same benefit to the district.

They were able to get a good private offer from Park Ridge Community Bank which will allow them to maximize their spending in a two-year issue.

The four board members at the meeting — Jim O’Brien, Cindy Grau, Jim O’Donnell and Harmony Harrington — agreed with the plan.

The list of capital improvements proposed by staff last year is more than this will cover, but some long-range projects made headway in getting completed.

These include the Maine Park renovations which repurposed space after board offices moved to Prospect Park, and the long awaited updated restrooms to serve ball field players at Hinkley Park.

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