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Northfield Park District to ask voters in March 2026 for referendum to fund parks, maintenance and facilities
Summary
Park District officials told the village board that a limiting-rate referendum on the March 2026 ballot would fund a north-side pocket park (about $600,000), a 3,000-sq.-ft. community-center expansion (roughly $2–3 million), Willow Park restrooms and maintenance upgrades (about $2.5–3.5 million) and increased maintenance capacity; the parcel for the pocket park is leased from the village for $10 for 30 years, and the district estimates the tax impact at about $30 per $100,000 of assessed value.
Bridget Kennedy, president of the Northfield Park District board, told the Village Board on Jan. 27 that the park district will ask residents to vote on a limiting-rate referendum during the March 2026 election to fund projects in the district’s 2023 master plan.
Kennedy said the district narrowly missed a prior referendum by 32 votes and has spent the last year doing outreach; she and Executive Director Bill Byron asked the board and the public to help spread information about what the referendum would pay for and how much it would cost homeowners.
The proposal described in the presentation would fund three principal projects: a north-side pocket park, estimated at roughly $600,000 and to include a playground, bike-repair station, benches and a woodland overlook; an expansion of the community center of about 3,000 square feet to add meeting and flexible program space and address aging infrastructure (estimated $2–3 million); and upgrades to Willow Park including outdoor restrooms and heat/water to the maintenance facility (estimated $2.5–3.5 million). Kennedy said the pocket park land was obtained in an intergovernmental arrangement with the village and is leased for 30 years at a total cost of $10.
Kennedy also described a maintenance and operations component: court repairs (~$70,000), replacement of poured-in-place playground surfacing (last replaced five years ago; district noted quotes around $400,000 for a full replacement when the material reaches end of life), annual natural-areas maintenance (~$30,000), baseball-field renovation (~$15,000 per year) and roughly $5,000 annually to operate the outdoor ice rink. She said program demand has grown sharply — summer camp participation is up about 38% since 2021, serving roughly 800 kids last year, and before- and after-school programs now serve about 90 children per day — and that additional indoor space is needed to meet that demand.
On taxes, Kennedy said the district estimates a 0.1% tax-rate increase would translate to about $30 per $100,000 of property value (about $300 on a $1 million home) and would keep Northfield’s park-district rate in the lower half of surrounding districts. She told the board the district did not receive a state grant that would have covered 50% of the north-side pocket-park project and that the parks foundation has raised roughly $150,000 toward the park.
Kennedy said the presentation was informational and that the park district will hold a final information night at the park district community center on Monday, Feb. 23 at 6:00 p.m.; she encouraged residents with questions to contact the park district or visit its website.
The village board did not take action on the referendum at the Jan. 27 meeting; Kennedy said the district is seeking community outreach and voter education ahead of the March election.
"We missed by 32 votes, so less than 2%. One of the things that we heard ... was that they either didn't know that it was on the ballot or they didn't know enough about it to vote yes," Kennedy said during the presentation.
The board heard the presentation as part of the president’s report; no formal vote or board referral was recorded at the meeting.
