The Springdale Cemetery Authority Board’s secretary resigned Tuesday. Jeanette Hillyer has served in the board as a Peoria County representative since its creation 11 years ago. Hillyer says there have been many improvements in the historic burial ground over the last decade.
“I think one of the good things that they do now are runs through the cemetery, all the people that are coming through, the screaming pumpkin run, the half marathons that they include Springdale in, that brings people in that normally wouldn’t be here,” says Hillyer.
But Springdale continues to have financial challenges. The publicly owned cemetery operates with revenue from plot sales and the funding from the local governments included in the intergovernmental agreement. Hillyer says Springdale needs its own taxing district if its ever to be financially solvent.