“Peoria Park District cuts levy,” the Journal Star headline reads. The article starts, “Taxpayers will be glad to hear the Peoria Park District just adjusted this year’s levy – down – by $63,000.”

That sounds pretty exciting… until you realize that the levy is still over three-quarters of a million dollars more than last year. The Journal Star reported on November 20, 2008:

A $41.4 million budget for 2009 was cleared by Peoria Park District trustees in less than 17 minutes Wednesday. That budget includes a $14.5 million tax levy, which is $821,000 more than the amount in the 2008 budget.

So, it appears to me that instead of the levy going up $821,000, it’s now going up “only” $758,000, or $63,000 less than originally planned. It’s better than a sharp stick in the eye, but not quite as exciting as the paper makes it sound.