GETTING THE MESSAGE RIGHT. The DeKalb Park District has an outdoor pool that is nearly life-expired. Because of tax-limitation laws, the district must obtain permission, by a referendum, to issue bonds to finance construction of a new pool (on the district's website are the fact sheet and a concept plan, both as .pdf documents). The concept the district came up with is for a small water park, something that didn't sit well with most of the citizens who spoke at a recent public forum.

What the district might have missed is a simple bit of economics. In order to keep the current pool usable might involve an expenditure of up to $5 million, and replacement is still required. The incremental cost of a replacement pool allows the district to avoid some of those expenses, let alone the trouble finding the money, as I don't see a referendum for a maintenance bond going very far, and perhaps a replacement pool doesn't have to include the rafting river and multiple waterslides.