The Downers Grove park district signed off on a $6 million borrowing plan Thursday night while also green-lighting a proposal to lower the amount of money the district collects from residents every year in property taxes.

The lowering of the tax levy by $338,000 was designed to offset the sting of an estimated $20 annual tax hike for the owner of a $300,000 home.  According to board president Bob Gelwicks, lowering the levy will completely offset that increase

“The taxpayers did speak this week and they said they’re not real interested in tax increases,” said board president Bob Gelwicks. ““We have people on fixed incomes who have had no increase in Social Security for two years.”

Board member Janet Barr said while lowering of the tax levy may offset the tax burden, it didn’t offset a lack of foresight involved in increasing borrowing while diminishing the district’s ability to pay for it.

“It’s always harder to go up in taxes than go down,” Barr said before voting against the tax decrease. “Doing a drastic cut doesn’t make sense.”

The district borrowed the $6 million that was approved Tuesday night with an eye toward undertaking some large-scale projects, including a $1.1 million rebuild of the Fishel Park band shell and $3.8 million for the renovation of McCollum Park. Without the cash infusion the district would have had to postpone a planned $7 million in projects.

The new money, which should be in district hands by Nov. 23, pushes the total amount borrowed by the district in the past six years to $17.3 million.  Despite the borrowing, a memo indicates the district has enough revenue on hand to make payments toward both accrued interest as well as the principal amount owed.

By borrowing now, the district was able to take advantage of super-low recession induced interest rates and will receive a substantial rebate.