[Communications] Urgent, well pretty urgent response needed

[Lorraine Kells]

Great, thanks!

On Mon, Jul 5, 2021 at 12:20 PM Amy Olson <akeo at me.com> wrote:

> Hi Lorraine! I can set up a Google form, no problem…
>
> Amy
>
> On Jul 5, 2021, at 12:17 PM, Lorraine Kells <lxkells at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Amy and others,
>
> You know from the email received from Emily Reusswig and forwarded to you
> on Jun 29, that CCGA has been invited to join a coalition of organizations
> supporting a referendum to raise taxes for the Cook County Forest Preserves
> on the ballot in November 2022.
>
> I emailed Emily in reply that we'd call a special meeting to take a vote
> on CCGA support.  Since we are not meeting until September with our two
> month break, we have to call a special zoom meeting or send out the info to
> the chairs/networking group with a motion. Perhaps a google vote form would
> be best?  The next meeting of the Cook County Board where the
> Commissioners vote to move the referendum forward  is scheduled for July
> 27, 2021. We need to act soon to get included in the coalition and be read
> in at this meeting.
>
> I'm not really crazy about a special zoom.  What do you think about a
> google vote form?  Would you, Amy, be able to set this up? I have prepared
> an email explaining the referendum with links to a WTTW News report and a
> link to the Referendum itself for clarification.
>
> Explanation: Urban forests are a valuable resource; they help to filter
> air and water, control stormwater, conserve energy, and provide animal
> habitat, and for Chicago community gardeners, they give us shade and add
> beauty and form to our neighborhood landscapes.
>
> *Motion to Support the Forest Preserves of Cook County Referendum and have
> CCGA join the coalition supporting the referendum to provide funds to pay
> the cost of conserving and restoring land to good health, protecting the
> water quality of rivers, lakes, and streams, providing natural flood water
> storage, protecting wildlife habitat, protecting forests to improve air
> quality, improving and maintaining existing forest preserves and trails.*
>
> The Cook County’s board of commissioners has thrown its unanimous support
> behind a proposal for a ballot referendum that would put a property tax
> increase for the forest preserves, all 70,000 acres, directly in the hands
> of voters, allowing voters to decide if they want to make an investment in
> the future of our forest preserves. This measure is expected to be placed
> on ballots in the November 2022 election, so for CCGA there is time to
> garner support among community gardeners and those who value an urban
> forest to help make an impact for the passage of this referendum.
>
>
> “The referendum, as it currently stands, would propose raising the
> existing forest preserve taxing rate by .025% to a total of .076%, which
> would add approximately $40 million to the district’s coffers. For a single
> family residence in Cook County with a fair market value of $100,000 at the
> time of the referendum, the increase in annual taxes would be $7.29,
> according to the resolution presented to commissioners.”
>
>
> Read a WTTW News report
> https://news.wttw.com/2021/06/22/forest-preserve-property-tax-referendum-likely-headed-ballots-2022
>
> See the full referendum at
>
> https://fpdcc.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4994273&GUID=34E39ACB-1C59-4CA9-A717-FB47FA073FA5&Options=&
>
>
>  The motion could be made shorter, I think.
>
> Lorraine
>
>
>
>
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