Local: $60 million budget for Peoria Park District?
That’s Merle Widmer’s prediction for the year 2010. The current budget is for $50 million, but he says it’s going to continue to grow. The villains of the piece are bonds already purchased to start the Glen Oak Zoo expansion, as well as the temporary relocation of park district headquarters to a site on North Knoxville, then another move to the former Lakeview Museum building if the downtown museum ever gets built. If the housing boom in north Peoria slows or ends, it means a tax increase, he says.
Billy Dennis is a former reporter and editor at small daily and weekly newspapers in Illinois and Missouri. He comments on media, news and politics. He also owns and operates 
