Ten Ways Municipalities and Park Districts Can Intergovernmentally Cooperate

by Scott A. Puma

Article VII, Section 10 of The Illinois Constitution provides that "units of local government and school districts may contract or otherwise associate among themselves, with the State, with other states, and their units of local government and school districts, and with the United States to obtain or share services and to exercise, combine, or transfer any power or function, in any manner not prohibited by law or by ordinance." The Illinois legislature has also promulgated a uniform statutory framework for broad intergovernmental cooperation in the Intergovernmental Cooperation Act, 5 ILCS 220/1 et seq. The legislature has expanded upon this for certain specific functions between park districts and municipalities (in this article, "municipalities" refers to cities and villages.) Where there is no express statutory authority found either in the Illinois Municipal Code or the Illinois Park District Code, a municipality and park district obtain their authority to contract from the Illinois Constitution and the Intergovernmental Cooperation Act. While there are perhaps hundreds of ways in which municipalities and park districts can cooperate to deal with specific circumstances, the following are ten general ways which they can intergovernmentally cooperate.

1. Joint Recreation Programs and Facilities
The single most common way that municipalities and park districts cooperate is through joint recreation programs and joint facilities. In this era of the tax cap, it is often difficult for one unit of local government to fund land acquisition, construction and staffing for recreational facilities to serve a community. Thus, municipalities and park districts, sometimes with school districts or community college districts, enter into agreements to own and operate such recreational facilities. Additionally, the Park District Code specifically authorizes municipalities and park districts to cooperate relative to the ownership and use of swimming pools and ice rinks (70 ILCS 1205/9-1(d); golf courses (70 ILCS 1205/9.1-5); and tennis courts and zoos (70 ILCS 1205/9.2-5). Municipalities and park districts have entered into intergovernmental agreements for jointly developed facilities which are not specifically authorized by statute such as large scale community centers, senior centers, theaters, recreation facilities and athletic facilities. Additionally, different governmental entities often find that each other's expertise is necessary to operate these facilities. Thus, there are often intergovernmental agreements relative to staffing and life-guarding at municipal pools and beaches by park district staff, maintenance and cleaning provisions relative to such public buildings and professional management provisions for such buildings.

2. Police Power
Illinois park districts are authorized to staff and fund their own police departments (70 ILCS 1205/4-7). Although the actual number of park districts maintaining their own police departments is relatively low, park districts must find a way to enforce their regulatory ordinances. For example, most park districts have an ordinance in place setting the hours when a park is open. In order to enforce this type of regulatory ordinance, park districts often contract with municipalities for police service. The municipal police department can then enter upon park land and issue citations for violations of park district ordinances for such things as being in the parks after hours, trespassing upon park land and, often, consuming alcohol in the parks when either underage or when it is prohibited. If a park district does maintain a police force, the park district and municipality may enter into an intergovernmental agreement to provide for additional jurisdiction for the park police within the municipality (70 ILCS 1325/1). Further, municipalities may utilize park police equipment in their operations. If a park district with a lot of parks also owns all-terrain vehicles or snowmobiles to access its parks, the municipality may at some point need them or ask the park district police to assist using its specialized equipment in municipal police matters. Additionally, park police officers may be utilized to backup officers of the municipality when available. It is best to provide for these occurrences in an intergovernmental agreement.

3. Comprehensive Land Planning for the Municipality
Municipalities are authorized to approve a comprehensive land plan for the present and future development or redevelopment of the municipality. The jurisdiction of the land plan may extend for one and one half miles around the boundary of the municipality (65 ILCS 5/11-12-5). The comprehensive plan should include the locations of public lands, parks, and playground. The development of the comprehensive plan is typically undertaken by a municipality with the assistance of its planning staff, an outside land planning consultant, its plan commission and the municipal board. In order to decide how a municipality will be developed in the future, as well as how certain areas of existing municipalities will be redeveloped, the park district should be consulted as to where it sees the need for new or improved park sites. For example, if the majority of the parks and playgrounds are located in a certain portion of the municipality, and new growth is anticipated away from the existing park facilities, then the park district should be consulted as to where new facilities should be located for future residents. If wide- scale redevelopment is being undertaken by a municipality through economic incentives, tax increment financing districts or the like, the park district may have thoughts as to where new recreational facilities should be located within these areas. While this process is not usually followed pursuant to a written intergovernmental agreement, it is another example of municipal and park district cooperation.

4. Developer Donations
Practically all municipalities provide that new residential development set aside land for park purposes, or cash will be paid in lieu of a land donation to the park district for the purposes of acquiring or improving land to provide needed park space which is specifically and uniquely attributable to the new development. The question then becomes how large or small a park the developer should donate, what condition it should be in, and what is the procedure if the park district prefers cash. Typically, municipal ordinances address this by providing that cash is to be paid when the development is too small to require a land donation of five or more acres. Additional authority for more aggressive requirements for donations can be found in annexation agreements. Most municipal ordinances provide that a land donation be paid based upon the estimated ultimate population of a subdivision. For instance, a 4-bedroom single family detached house is expected to generate 3.764 new residents to a municipality. In the planning and platting process for the new subdivisions, municipalities and park districts should cooperate and meet to discuss where new park land will be located and what facilities such as playgrounds, tennis courts, basketball courts, etc., will be placed in the new park, or if parks should be maintained as open green space. Further, the municipality and park district should agree when a developer should be required to install electric, sewer and water services for future use and if a developer should construct certain improvements such as playgrounds, shelters and washroom facilities on a park site. Also, since the cash in lieu of land formula is based upon the value of land per acre, the municipality and park district should confirm each year what the value per acre is for residential land in the municipality. Typically the park district is charged with obtaining an appraisal to substantiate the land value. However, the municipality must set the value in its ordinance as the municipality, not the park district, has the authority to assess and collect developer donations. While few municipalities and park districts enter into formal agreements relative to planning parks and collecting donations, they usually enter into indemnification agreements for the benefit of the municipality which provide that in the event a developer initiates litigation against a municipality, the park district is responsible to defend and pay back any judgment or settlement that is rendered.

5. Joint Recreation Programs for the Handicapped
Municipalities and park districts are specifically authorized to enter into intergovernmental agreements to provide for joint recreation programs for the handicapped at 65 ILCS 5/11-95-14 and 70 ILCS 1205/8-10(b), respectively. Municipalities, through their recreation departments, and park districts, which are located in the same general geographical area, often establish special recreation associations through intergovernmental agreements. When a municipality is not served by its own park district, the municipality may join with other area park districts and municipalities to better provide recreation for the physically and mentally disabled. These special recreation associations have been very successful in meeting the needs of the disabled from preschool through adult ages. The employees of the special recreation districts often have the specific training to work with the disabled that municipal recreation departments lack. Neither the Park District Code nor the Municipal Code requires the establishment of a formal special recreation association, and municipalities and park districts simply enter into intergovernmental agreements providing recreation services and facilities through either governmental entity. Typically, however, the park district would provide recreation services.

6. Exchange of Services
Municipalities and park districts can also enter into intergovernmental agreements to provide certain services to each other. For example, if a park district has a large maintenance staff that has equipment for mowing and other services, the municipality may contract with the park district to mow its property, rights-of-way and public areas in exchange for snow plowing or other services upon park property. In lieu of an exchange, a municipality may waive certain fees to the park district for permitting, building and plan reviews, sewer and water tap-in fees or the like. If the municipality and park district decide that the fee waiver is desirable, they should each make sure that they are obtaining the approximate value of the service being rendered and that a credit or amount be established for such fees to be waived by the municipality. The net result is that one taxing body will not be charging another taxing body, which will ultimately benefit the residents.

7. Jointly Owned Property for Parks and Playgrounds
Like the joint recreation programs and facilities discussed above, both the Illinois Municipal Code and Park District Code allow for jointly owned parks and playgrounds at 65 ILCS 5/11-96-1 and 70 ILCS 1205/8-1(f), respectively. As such, a municipality and park district may decide how to own and maintain property. Additionally, the parties would typically share in the construction, maintenance and liability relative to any park site. This may be a beneficial way for property to be held if the political climate in a particular area requires additional oversight over property. However, given the potential question of liability, most park land and playgrounds are only owned by one party, but the maintenance and upkeep may be the responsibility of the other party. Any such arrangement should be reduced to a written intergovernmental agreement.

8. Employment of Youth
The Illinois legislature has established the Illinois Youth Recreation Corps, 525 ILCS 50/8. The purpose of the Youth Recreation Corps is to make grants to local sponsors to provide wages to youth operating and instructing in recreational programs for the benefit of other youth during the summer. The programs are to provide recreational opportunities for local children of all ages and include coordination and teaching of physical activities, arts and handicrafts and learning activities. A municipality and park district could work together to employ youth in such endeavors. The park district and municipality would apply to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources for funding for such a program. While it is unlikely that the State has an abundance of funds available for such a program, this is another way that a municipality and park district could work together to benefit the youth of the community by employing them in the summer months.

9. Special Events
Many municipalities have community-wide festivals. Such programs can be jointly sponsored by a municipality and a park district and they foster goodwill in the community. While many communities leave some of the funding to separate not-for- profit entities which are created for the sole purpose of running such a festival, there is a lot of behind the scenes work to be done by municipalities and park districts. For instance, these festivals typically occur on public grounds, absent a generous land owner. Usually, a park district will have adequate facilities to host a large scale festival. The municipality often will provide traffic control and other police presence at the festival site. Both municipalities and park districts will often provide workers for set up and take down of the festivals. The municipalities and park district often work together to schedule entertainment acts and to provide food and fireworks at the festivals. Many times the municipality and park district contribute directly to the costs of the fireworks. The goodwill fostered by community-wide festivals often far exceeds the labor and other costs expended.

10. Tourism
Municipalities have the ability to impose a tax on all persons engaged in the municipality of renting, leasing or letting rooms in a hotel (65 ILCS 5/8-3-14). The hotel and motel tax may not exceed 5% of the gross rental receipts from the rental of such rooms. In non-home rule municipalities, the proceeds of the hotel and motel tax must be used to promote tourism and conventions within a municipality or to attract nonresident overnight visitors. A municipality and park district can agree that some part of the hotel and motel tax will be distributed to the park district, as long as the park district presents certain programs. For instance, if a park district has a large art fair or band concert or competition each year, the proceeds of the hotel and motel tax may be used to promote these events to attract people to the community. In this scenario, both the park district and municipality benefit from increased nonresident attendance at these events. While some towns choose to disburse the proceeds of the hotel and motel tax annually based upon requests, a park district and the municipality could enter into a long term intergovernmental agreement to insure that the park district receives a portion of the taxes and to set forth what the park district will use the funds for.

We have listed just ten of the ways in which municipalities and park districts can cooperate. Given the broad authority under the Intergovernmental Cooperation Act, the possibilities are endless. For more information about park districts, review the handbook on park district law prepared by Ancel Glink attorneys and published by the Illinois Association of Park Districts.

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