The Illinois Association of Park Districts has been working with the Partners for Parks and Wildlife coalition as it studies the available funding sources for the state's wildlife action plan. Entitled Illinois State Land Conservation Funding Report, the study assesses the need in Illinois for additional open space protection.

In addition, it provides a series of recommendations as to potential sources of funding and details the lack of funding that has been traditionally going to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) for such purposes.

The Open Space Lands Acquisition and Development fund (OSLAD) and the Natural Areas Acquisition Fund (NAAF), which should be providing more than $50 million a year for open space in Illinois, have been severely affected by the state's fiscal problems. Both the need for and the cost of open space grow when the real estate market becomes active and fuels new development, as has been the case for a number of years. The legislation that created OSLAD and NAAF recognized that fact and tied funding for open space acquisition to the real estate transfer tax. However, even though the real estate market in the last few years has left land scarcer and more expensive, the funding mechanism to protect open space has been broken.

In recent years, the IDNR has often been able to spend less than half the money generated for the open space funds by the real estate transfer tax due to such budgetary procedures as sweeps, charge backs and spending allowances. In fiscal year 2006, less than one-third of the amount generated for OSLAD was spent. Barely more than half of the money generated by NAAF was spent. In total, more than $36 million intended for open space land preservation and restoration was diverted to other purposes.

Funding for other conservation programs has been cut recently as well. Conservation 2000, another state program dedicated to habitat protection, has been affected by many of the same budget procedures as OSLAD and NAAF, and the amount IDNR has been able to spend from the fund has dropped from $13.4 million in fiscal year 2002 to $5.4 million in fiscal year 2005. Funding for the Open Land Trust (OLT) program, which provided $200 million to open space from 1999 to 2003 through funding for capital bonds, has been discontinued entirely.

This trend must be reversed in the state of Illinois, and although fiscal year 2007 marked a dramatic upturn in the appropriation for the OSLAD fund, $12 million of the total receipts of this fund were diverted to Conservation 2000.

Open Lands, Open Doors
The need for providing a substantial sum of money to protect open space in Illinois is clear. The IAPD is also working on a coalition basis with groups in the affordable housing community to talk about increasing the amount of money available through the real estate transfer tax. This campaign has been termed "Open Doors, Open Lands."

Under the proposal, a reformed real estate transfer tax would extend tax relief to 93 percent of all property transactions statewide through a tax cut on the sale of modestly priced properties, while generating an estimated $136 million in new funding for affordable housing and open space/conservation through a rate increase on higher end properties.

This proposal would be structured in the following way. Currently, the state real estate transfer tax is 50 cents per $500 of property sale value. The proposed revised structure would enact a tax cut of 10 cents per $500 to sellers of property priced less than $500,000. Property prices over $500,000 would mean the reduced rate of 40 cents per $500 for the first $500,000 in value of the property. Value over $500,000 would be taxed additionally on a progressive rate structure. Under current funding formulas, the estimated additional $136 million in additional revenue that this new transfer taxing structure would bring would be allocated as follows: an additional $68 million for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund; an additional $47.6 million for OSLAD; and an additional $20.4 million for NAAF.

Veto Session Results
The Illinois General Assembly considered issues affecting parks, recreation and conservation agencies during its recent veto session. Among them are the measures reported below.

Minimum Wage
The General Assembly sent to the governor his proposal to increase the minimum wage from $6.50 to $7.50 per hour by July 2007, with an additional 25 cents an hour per year after that. Senate Bill 1268 would also create a second-tier "training-wage," allowing employers to pay teenagers fifty cents less than the minimum wage. Adult new hires would also receive fifty cents less during a 90-day probationary period. The minimum wage would increase to the full amount at the conclusion of the probationary period. The wage would not be annually indexed to inflation, and the law would sunset in 2010, capping the wage at $8.25 per hour.

Electricity Rate Freeze
At press time, House Bill 607 - the three-year electric rate freeze bill -- remains on 3rd Reading in the House after garnering only 65 votes. It is likely that the issue will come up again in January, when only 60 votes would be needed for passage.

The Senate passed a different measure, House Bill 2197, with a vote of 40-16-1. It would require ComEd and Ameren to put additional money into programs for energy efficiency and low-income heating assistance while phasing in rate hikes over three years. Customers would have to repay the deferred costs eventually, but the utilities could not charge interest on those amounts.

The failure of either bill to advance through both chambers leaves the issue unresolved at this time.

Alternative General Homestead Exemption - 7 Percent Cap
The House temporarily defeated Senate Bill 2300, legislation to expand and extend for three additional years the Alternative General Homestead Exemption instituted in 2003.

In 2003, the legislature allowed counties to authorize an Alternative General Homestead Exemption for three years, which would cap the increase in the assessed value of owner-occupied residential property at 7 percent for 3 years. The Cook County Board authorized this 7 percent cap in 2003. It applies to tax levy years 2003, 2004 and 2005 for the portion of Cook County reassessed in 2003; to tax levy years 2004, 2005 and 2006 for the portion of Cook County reassessed in 2004; and to tax levy years 2005, 2006 and 2007 for the portion of Cook County reassessed in 2005. If this bill is not passed in 2006, one-third of Cook County residences will lose their 7 percent cap. The bill was put on postponed consideration after proponents did not have the 70 votes needed for passage.

Postponed consideration means that the bill can be called again in the few remaining regular session days of the 94* General Assembly in January, at which time only 60 votes will be required for passage.

Design Firm Selection
If approved by the governor, Senate Bill 1453, which passed both houses on November 30, would eliminate the ability for local government entities (except home rule units) to obtain fee information of proposals for services from architects, engineers and land surveyors in terms of dollars, hours required, percentage of construction cost or any other measure of compensation during the selection process. Local government entities must wait until a firm is selected before discussing price.