GENERAL SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 



I. WASTE AND INEFFICIENCY THE NATURAL CONSEQUENCES 

 OF LACK OF UNITY 



Under separate management, each of the three large park 

 systems of Chicago has points of excellence — the South Park 

 and Lincoln Park systems more than the West Park system. 

 From the viewpoint of the community as a whole, however, there 

 is not only much waste and inefficiency in connection with expen- 

 ditures of park funds, but the needs of the people for park facili- 

 ties are not properly met, nor can they be, so long as the present 

 lack of unified management continues. 



There are ten separate park boards within the City of Chi- 

 cago — not counting the Special Park Commission, which is an 

 arm of the city government, nor the Forest Preserve Commission, 

 intended to have taxing authority over the entire County of 

 Cook, the act creating which has been declared unconstitutional. 

 There are portions of the City of Chicago that are not 

 within any of the ten separate park districts. The names of 

 these ten boards, the amount of the outstanding bonded indebt- 

 edness and of the annual tax levy of each are given in the follow- 

 ing tabular statement : rr * ^■o ^ ^ t, t?*^^ 



° Total Bonded Taxes Extended 



Indebtedness at End by County 



Park District of Fiscal Year 1910 Clerk for 1910 



South $ 5,920,000.00 $2,601,159 



West 2,763,166.66 1,437,263 



Lincoln *1,790,000.00 990,239 



Calumet 112 



Fernwood *13,000.00 3,867 



Irving 9,256 



North Shore 32,000.00 10,506 



Northwest ** 



Ridge 32,500.00 6,542 



Ridge Avenue 3,544 



$10,550,666.66 $5,062,488 

 Special Park Commission — Appropria- 

 tion by City Council for 1910 130,102 



$10,550,666.66 $5,192,590 



Less : Sinking Fund (See below) .... 470,458.81 



Net Indebtedness $10,080,207.85 



♦Sinking- funds held against these bonds as follows: 



Lincoln $470,000.00. Fernwood 54S8.81. 



**This park district was not organized until 1911. 



IS 



