For Immediate Release

Date:              April 18, 2007

Contact:         Brook McDonald, President/CEO

Phone:            (630) 428-4500

Fax:                (630) 428-4599          

 

Voters zoom by $1 billion milestone for open space money

 

 

                  NAPERVILLE, IL. – In Chicago’s fiscally conservative suburbs, the phrase “voter-approved tax increase” likely brings out the average voter’s inner skeptic. But should the tax increase help pay for open space and park projects, the skeptic disappears and is replaced by this fact:

            In the past 10 years, when asked to open their wallets to help fund forest preserve land acquisitions or local park expansions, voters across Northeast Illinois agreed to do so – in many cases overwhelmingly -- to the tune of $1 billion. This will ultimately preserve 35,000 acres, much of it already preserved through previous bond funds.

            The billion-dollar monetary milestone was passed Tuesday with the success of three open space referenda in Kendall, Kane and McHenry counties.

            McHenry’s conservation district sought and got taxpayer approval to sell $73 million in bonds with 57% support in order to save 4,500 acres of high-quality land from development. Kane’s forest preserve district got similar approval from its taxpayers with 64% for $85 million. And Kendall’s forest preserve district received taxpayer approval to sell $45 million in bonds with a whopping 68% so it can try to double the amount of land it currently owns – a relatively meager 1,200 acres. Kendall’s 68% support is the highest voter approval of all of the county-wide open space referenda.

            Since 1997, The Conservation Foundation has worked to secure the success of open space and conservation funding initiatives. Of the billion dollars taxpayers have so far agreed to fund, The Conservation Foundation is responsible for helping secure more than half that amount -- $700 million.

            The Foundation is adept at organizing successful campaigns and consulting with local governments. This work began with the approval of a long-shot $75 million DuPage County referendum in November 1997, and has continued with approval of Kane’s and Kendall’s referenda on Tuesday.

            “It’s amazing if you think about it,” said Brook McDonald, the Foundation’s president and CEO. “While voters were denying worthy tax increase requests that might have helped build new schools or firehouses, they were shouting ‘Yes!’ to proposals for open space projects.

            “A billion dollars later, we can see in stark terms how important land protection and outdoor recreational opportunity is to suburban voters, who tend to be very fiscally conservative by nature,” McDonald said.

            Established in 1972 by business and community leaders, The Conservation Foundation is a not-for-profit land and watershed protection organization, located in Naperville on a 60-acre farm. The mission of the Foundation is to preserve natural areas and open space, protect rivers and watersheds, and promote stewardship of our environment. With more than 4,000 members in DuPage, Kane, Kendall and Will Counties, The Conservation Foundation is celebrating its 35th anniversary in 2007.

            For more information about previous successful open space referenda, please link to: www.theconservationfoundation.org and go to Land Preservation and then to Open Space Referenda Passed.

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