Cook County property owners would be asked to pay about “$1.50 more a month in taxes” toward the preserves, which became a haven during the pandemic
A referendum on the ballot this November will ask Cook County voters for a property tax hike to support and grow the county’s vast forest preserves.
The referendum in the Nov. 8 general election would ask property owners to contribute on average about $1.50 more in property taxes per month toward the preserves, or around $20 a year. About $3 to $4 of a homeowner’s current property tax already goes to the forest preserves each month.
The question before voters comes as the forest preserves became a haven of green space during the pandemic. The number of visitors skyrocketed as people sought a respite from sickness, isolation and boredom. The county’s forest preserves are one of the largest in the U.S., with nearly 70,000 acres of natural areas where people can hike, fish, bike, camp and even zipline. There are nature centers, and a massive set of stairs where exercisers flock that take your breath away.
“If there is a silver lining in a really difficult time for everybody, it’s that people were able to get out and rediscover nature,” said Arnold Randall, general superintendent of the Forest Preserves of Cook County.
County officials and more than 150 organizations also tout the environmental benefits of the preserves, such as absorbing rainwater during storms and creating cleaner air.
Jean Franczyk, president and CEO of the Chicago Botanic Garden, which sits on forest preserve district land, lays out what’s at stake: “A set of green lungs for the region.”
If approved, officials estimate the tax increase would generate just over $40 million in additional funding a year. They say the extra cash would help the county address ambitious goals, like acquiring nearly 3,000 additional acres to protect it from development, restoring some 20,000 more acres over the next 20 years and paying for workers’ pensions.
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How about….. “NO!”
They take some beautiful manicured mowed horse pastures that were beautiful landscaped properties worth mega millions of dollars. Those prior private land owners which contributed to the community and paid taxes for schools, police, fire dept and more. Now they let the noxious weeds, like thistles, grow tall and call it nature and want us to pay for that too. Farmland like corn, hay, oats, wheat, soybeans also make oxygen and they also feed people and animals. Forest Preserve wants more & more land acquisitions and take money out of the tax base. They do not bring money into the community they only take.