Clark County, IL. (ECWd) -
Radio ads placed by Yargus (petition forger), Stepp, and Davidson, all candidates for the Clark County Park District Commissioner at the upcoming election, claim that the District has "operated on a positive budget" for the past five years. What numbers are they looking at? Read this article to see how they "work" the numbers during budget talks.
What a way to S...T...R...E...T...C...H... the Truth!
Truth: Four out of the past Five years, the Park District lost money.
Here are the real numbers from the Profit and Loss statements obtained thru a request for records:
Financial Report Net Losses/Profits
Fiscal Year 2014 Loss of $20,665.01
Fiscal Year 2013 Loss of $83,440.38
Fiscal Year 2012 Loss of $142,631.04
Fiscal Year 2011 Loss of $120,669.47
Fiscal Year 2010 Profit of $103,868.46
Add them all up to a total combined loss of $263,537.44
Does that appear to be sound financial practice? The park could be thriving wonderfully now without the waste of over $200K in unnecessary expenses. The park should not need to lease property to make up for poor financial management. PERIOD.
I am working on getting audio from past meetings put together on this issue so you can hear it in their own words.
7 Comments
Frank
Posted at 08:31h, 28 MarchI come up with 471,274.36
jmkraft
Posted at 11:15h, 28 MarchThe 5th year back was positive – the rest were negative.
Tammy Herlocher
Posted at 21:49h, 29 MarchHow do I become a member of Watchdogs?
jmkraft
Posted at 22:03h, 29 MarchWe don’t really have any members. Just loosely coordinated efforts.
Scott Lawrence
Posted at 06:25h, 31 MarchJust because the park has shown a loss over 4 years is no evidence that the numbers should be compiled to show what was “wasted” It was simply red ink as opposed to black. Some, but not all understand this and that needs clarification. I understand your group is at odds with the current administration but misinformation will not garner support
jmkraft
Posted at 07:20h, 31 MarchThe article was in response to the radio ad stating the park had operated with a “positive budget” for the past 5 years, which is obviously false. There is no misinformation in this article.
This article explains their current budgeting process “let’s just add income (on paper) to show a break even budget”: http://3.133.133.226/2014/12/clark-county-park-district-lets-just-add-income-to-show-a-break-even-budget/
Lisa "Nickie" Thomas
Posted at 15:24h, 31 MarchIn 2010 a feasibility study was conducted to see if Mill Creek Park was a good site for a Water Park. This cost taxpayers just over $25,800. Much research could have been done without costing the park this money to determine whether the project was feasible.
Between 2008 and 2013, a grant project for the restroom at the boat launch led to crippling costs to the District. A dispute between the contractor and a board member led to the following:
-Payments to Sycamore Engineering to finish the pro-ject: $25,257.20
-Payments to Stone Builders to finish the project: $19,959.71
-an Arbitrated Settlement to the original contractor sit-ing Board Members at fault for a grand total of $71,909.79
-Attorney Fees totaling $33,880.38
TOTAL ADDITIONAL AND AVOIDABLE EXPENSE relating to a dispute with a BOARD MEMBER.
$151,007.08
On top of all of that the park has spent over $20,000 on attorney fees this fiscal year! All of these expenses could have been avoided if the park district would follow FOIA and OMA laws and not try to lease park land!
This is not considering all of the other professional fees and other costs that could have been avoided by exercising common sense.