Hello constituents of Cook County, my name is Greg Gentz and I am respectfully posting this response to the comments by our County Board Chair Doo-Kirk, which were broadcast on WTIP (Dec. 14) this morning, about the effects of the property tax levy increase being reduced from 19.9 percent previously to 9.9 percent at yesterday’s county board meeting. Boreal is the only venue to make this response, as WTIP understandably cannot allow everyone to come on their airwaves to voice their opinion.
It is likely at the Tuesday, December 20 county commissioners meeting at 8:30 a.m. that this reduction will be challenged and a motion will be made to return the property tax levy to its previous 19.9 percent level. The only way to stop this from happening is to come to that meeting and voice your opposition to that motion. The voice of the people is the only check on government in our system.
I spoke at Tuesday’s commissioners’ meeting and asked for the levy to be reduced. I spoke because there are many people trying to tell our elected government that the year over year rapid increase in our property taxes is making their property unaffordable to them. You have the choice to believe those people or not. These most at risk constituents support the ability of the more economically well off constituents to live here. Cook County’s property tax increase last year of 8.5 percent was the highest property tax increase in the state. A property tax increase this year of 9.9 percent is likely to be the highest again. The reduction in expenditures has got to begin somewhere.
Yes, reorganizations are horrible. Yes, there likely should have been different choices made in the past. None of these facts change our current reality and where we are. I too wish the narrative would have changed long ago and in a much more different way than this has occurred presently. My concern is that there are more at risk constituents, consistently being beaten down than there are at risk from these decreases in expenditures.
I am not blind to the fallout of these cuts. This morning at 8:30 a.m. (prior to my knowledge of the commissioner’s comments) I spoke with a large community entity about doing a fundraiser drive for the Senior Center. I then spoke with the Senior Center director about accepting donations. Lastly, I spoke with my pastor about getting our county churches to make special offering drives throughout the year for bolstering the Senior Centers reserve fund.
Difficult decisions are coming. Please be a part of changing the narrative that rapid rising tax increases are acceptable in our county. Again, this is likely to be challenged at the next two county commissioner’s meeting, and we will only have ourselves to blame for not showing up if the property tax increase returns to 19.9 percent.
Greg Gentz
Grand Marais
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