Commissioners against Will Co. Forest District bond sale hire pollsters to survey voters

Two commissioners at the Forest Preserve District of Will County on Tuesday released a poll indicating 53% of the public opposes the plan to issue a $50 million bond to support future land acquisition and improvements.

The forest district board will vote Thursday on the bond plan, which now is estimated to cost the owner of a $300,000 home about $11 a year in property taxes.

The district has revised its estimate from a previous projection that showed the cost would be $9 on a $300,000 home. But it continues to project that the forest district’s portion of a tax bill will drop because other bonds are being paid off this year before the $50 million bond program would begin.

The bond issue appears to have bipartisan support among commissioners, who voted 6-1 last week in a Finance Committee meeting to recommend approval to the full board.

Commissioner Mark Revis, R-Plainfield, was the lone no vote last week, arguing that property taxes would drop even lower if the bonds were not issued.

Revis and Commissioner Raquel Mitchell, R-Bolingbrook, issued a news release Tuesday voicing opposition to the $50 million bond issue and citing a poll they commissioned showing some voters had concerns about property taxes.

Revis and Mitchell paid for the poll by M3 Strategies out of Chicago, which indicated 53% of those questioned did not want the Forest Preserve District to borrow any more money.

The survey polled 398 likely voters in Will County on June 8 and 9, with a margin of error of 4.91% at 95% confidence, according to a release from M3 Strategies. The survey also included questions about top issues for the upcoming general election.

The poll indicated 30% supported continued borrowing by the district. Twenty-four percent supported the $50 million bond issue and 6% supported an even higher bond issue. Another 18% said they were unsure.

Revis said Tuesday that he believes many people who support the $50 million bond issue believe the sale would be the cause of a projected property tax decrease.

“Their impression is that this bond is the reason their bills would be lower,” Revis said. “They think it is because of this, not in spite of.”

The Forest Preserve District has outlined the impact of the bond issue, indicating the cost to taxpayers with and without it.

Those projections were revised slightly this week to estimate that the owner of a $300,000 house without the bond issue would pay $84.16 in forest preserve property taxes instead of the previous estimate of $86.

That homeowner now pays $116.70 in forest preserve taxes, according to the district. With the $50 million bond issue, the homeowner would pay $95.50.

Commissioners favoring the bond plan at the public hearing last week said they believed forest preserve programs enjoy widespread public support and emphasized that taxpayers will pay less than they do now.

Revis pointed to other results in the poll showing property taxes are a top concern for residents and that 95% of Will County residents believed local candidates for public office should have a plan to address tax increases.