Dundee Township Park District’s plan to seek voter approval for a tax referendum to pay for a new swimming pool and other amenities has been postponed until an evaluation can be done of its total financial picture.
Initially, the idea had been to place a referendum question on the March 17, 2026, election ballot — paperwork for which would need to be submitted by Dec. 15 — until concerns were raised about the need for a full review of what the next five years look like, Executive Director Dave Peterson said.
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“The park district is putting on hold any referendum discussions for now,” Peterson said.
Evaluating all of the district’s future financial expenses, revenues and needs before committing to building any new facilities, like a swimming to replace the one they closed in Sleepy Hollow in 2023, will be done with the assistance of consultants, he said.
The financial sustainability assessment will help them “look at our direct and indirect costs and better understand our fee assessments moving forward,” he said.
“This process will begin in the fourth quarter and take up to six months to complete,” Peterson said. “Then the board will revisit our aquatic needs and deferred capital projects.”
Among other things, the analysis will look at the total costs of running programs and facilities as well as the expenses the district shoulders for administrative salaries, utilities, social security and pensions.
The district had no choice but to close Sleepy Hollow pool, built in the 1960s, because it had been deteriorating for years. Officials said it lost 3.8 million gallons in the last season it operated.
A consultant hired by the district developed several options on how to proceed: a pool could be built at the Sleepy Hollow site to replace it or a new pool — indoor or outdoor — could be constructed at the Randall Oaks Recreation Center in West Dundee.
An outdoor pool would cost an estimated $15.3 million whereas an indoor pool would have a price tag of about $31 million, according to numbers presented earlier this year.
And there are other capital improvement projects the district needs, including a clubhouse at the Bonnie Dundee Golf Course in Carpentersville and new soccer fields, as well as building maintenance projects that need to be completed.
Officials acknowledged that the only way to pay for any or all of the projects would be through a tax referendum approved by voters.
The last referendum the district sought was in 2001, and it did not pass.
The only way a new referendum would gain approval is if more than a swimming pool were at stake and a larger number of people would benefit from the projects built, officials said.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.