The Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, which includes St. James Farm near Wheaton, may ask voters for a property tax increase to acquire more land and relieve budget pressures.
Daily Herald file photo
Some DuPage County forest preserve commissioners have expressed support for putting a tax increase request on November election ballots.
As they begin to prepare a 2025 spending plan, officials say the proposed tax increase would provide “long-term financial stability” and allow the district to acquire more land. The district has identified more than 250 acres that could be preserved as open space.
“We must stay committed to our mission and protect our open lands, not just for today, but for future generations, even if it means a bigger levy,” Forest Preserve President Daniel Hebreard said.
The board will vote Tuesday on whether to move forward with the referendum question. If voters approved the request, the owner of a home valued at $308,500 would pay roughly $36 more a year in property taxes to the district. The increase would generate more than $17 million in additional annual revenue.
Over the last decade, the district has “lost financial ground” while providing more services, district Executive Director Karie Friling said.
Forest preserves now draw 5.5 million visitors a year. Since 2006 — when voters last approved a district referendum question — the annual visitor count remained steady at 3 million until 2020. The district also has added more than 600 acres of land to its holdings since 2006.
“We know that open space is not free space, that every acre that we have to maintain and we take care of, there’s a cost associated with it,” Friling said.
For over a decade, the district has been subsidizing its operating budget with environmental funds. The district budgeted a $7.5 million operating subsidy for fiscal 2024.
“With no corrective action, we know that it will continue to grow because our costs are not going down,” Friling told the board at a planning session this week.
However, environmental funds should be reserved for maintenance of shuttered landfills and to mitigate any associated risks, officials say. With the additional revenue, the district would be able to leave those funds alone.
“Remember we are stewards of the landfills forever and ever,” Friling told the board this week. “And we need to make sure that they are maintained in the way they need to and that we do everything we can to limit liability and risk.”
For each of the past four years, the district’s property tax levy has remained flat at $51.279 million. Officials say the current levy does not provide enough annual revenue to support operations, maintain assets and acquire additional property.
“We know that DuPage County has been rapidly developed, is almost built out in fact, but we also know that there’s still land available, but we know that land will not be available forever,” Friling said.
Officials haven’t said publicly which properties they’re eyeing.
“One of the things the public always wants is for us to have more trails and more land, and we need to do that and maintain what we have, so let’s go,” Commissioner Barbara O’Meara said.
Before the pandemic, the board adopted a master plan for habitat restoration, infrastructure and other major projects. So far, the district has completed 10, with another 15 projects underway.
“We’ll be able to maintain the same level of services that we provide today,” Friling said. “And we’ll be able to continue our capital reinvestment strategy and complete the … master plan, which is very, very important.”
Election Day is Nov. 5.