[Peace] More Township poverty referendum news

[Randall Cotton]

In today's News-Gazette, a Guest Commentary by four Township Board members
(AKA City Council members) strongly advocates for passage of the City of
Champaign Township referendum that will increase Champaign's miserly level
of support for the poorest of the poor through General Assistance aid.

The authors were Marci Dodds, Ken Pirok, Gina Jackson and Michael La Due.
I've included the text below and a scanned image of the article as an
attachment.

While this is a positive development that can be leveraged in raising
awareness and gaining support, it is in truth a minority of the Board
(there are 9 members on the Township Board/City Council). 8 of the 9
Township Trustees have made positive comments favoring the referendum's
passage. It's unclear why the other 4 didn't sign on to the commentary.

Despite the commentary, the News-Gazette has yet to carry a story on this
issue and has yet to reveal their editorial position on the referendum.

And regardless of what happens in the News-Gazette, I think it's still an
uphill battle to ensure the referendum's passage. In today's tough economy
especially, anyone who hasn't been exposed to the details of this issue
and only sees the referendum's language cold on Election Day will
automatically vote no in my opinion. There is still much work to be done.
We still need folks to join the grassroots effort. Efforts that could be
undertaken include:

1. Gathering community organizations in support of passage in a public
statement and at a press conference later this week.

2. Writing letters to the editor (there have been NONE so far).

3. Asking local media and calling on talk shows to cover/discuss the issue

4. Obtaining a WILL "Public Square" radio spot this coming Friday.

5. Flyering in big crowds (like next week's Farmer's Market or downtown
Champaign after the game)

6. Phone banking - an effort is being put together for next Sunday by UIUC
GEO.

7. Election day voter education near polling places

Details on this are being worked out within the 2008povertyreferendum
Yahoo group. If you want to stay informed and especially if you can help
out in a small or big way, please reply to me and we'll get you signed up
for that (remember, this is just a temporary mailing list and forum just
for this campaign).

Thanks!
R

Council members urge 'yes' vote on township tax

Let's state the obvious: these are tough economic times. Actually they're
more than tough. They're nerve-wracking. It seems like the country woke up
a few months ago and found itself standing on a financial house of cards,
watching one card, then another, then another fall. Suddenly everyone's
position became tenuous. No one was "safe." Pensions, retirement funds,
health insurance, 401(k)s, jobs, homes, fuel -- all could disappear. To
think about how changed one's situation could be, how fast - and far - one
could fall, even after doing things "right," investing smartly, living
wisely, all because of situations beyond our control is frightening.
Angering. Humiliating. Overwhelming.

That is what the poorest of the poor feel every minute of every day.

For most, those feelings only come after reading a headline, or while
worrying in the middle of the night. Then everyone wakes up and remembers
they're healthy.  Or they have insurance. They have family, friends, a
comforting place to worship. They own their home. They have a job,
savings, assets. They have resources. They have a safety net. They have
hope for the future.

The poorest of the poor have none of those things.

During the Depression, Franklin Roosevelt said, "The test of our progress
is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is
whether we provide enough for those who have too little."

On Nov. 4, the citizens of the City of Champaign Township will take a test
on their progress. There's a referendum on the ballot to raise the City of
Champaign Township tax by 2 cents per $100 of equalized assessed valuation
to help the poorest of the poor in the township. For the owner of a
$150,000 house, that means a little under $10 per year will go to those
who have even less than too little.

This won't make the City of Champaign Township rich. The money collected
will be used for the poor. It won't go to salaries, the town board, or a
new township building. It would be going to the poorest of the poor.

There are, conservatively estimated, 10,000 people in the city of
Champaign alone who live at half the federal poverty line, the
qualification to be considered "the poorest of the poor." The 2008 federal
poverty line for one person is $10,400. For a family of four, it's
$21,200. The City of Champaign Township gives assistance only to a person
who lives on $5,200 or a family of four who lives on $10,600. A year.

And the township can't even do that. By state law, the township is
supposed to provide $225 per month in aid for the poorest of the poor, but
it doesn't have the money to do so. Instead, it gives just 50 disabled
people $150 a month. That's it. There are able-bodied people living in
extreme poverty -- the elderly, single parents, those who get sick without
insurance, those without family or resources, victims of domestic
violence - who can get nothing.

General Assistance isn't welfare. There are rules. Before receiving
assistance, an individual must prove that he or she resides in the City of
Champaign Township and that his or her income is below half the federal
poverty line. When someone is disabled, general assistance provides funds
during the tedious process of applying for Social Security benefits. Once
Social Security benefits are received, general assistance ends and the
township is reimbursed by Social Security.

Someone who is extremely poor, but able-bodied, must work to continue to
qualify for General Assistance. For every $7.75 that person receives from
the township, he or she must work for one hour in local community and/or
not-for-profit agencies. If they don't, they no longer receive General
Assistance. General Assistance is help, not a handout.

But that help can't currently be given. The reason the township is in this
situation is a complicated confluence of history and tax caps that has
been inexorably building over the last 10 years. It's come to end in a
situation where a city as compassionate as Champaign funds its General
Assistance at a level 1,870 percent below Bloomington and 730 percent
below Urbana. To put it another way, the city of Bloomington raises
$195.78 per resident for General Assistance; Urbana, $76.60. The City of
Champaign Township raises $10.49.

Because the tax cap law also mandates the wording of the referendum, none
of this will be on the ballot. Nowhere will anyone be told that this money
is going to the poorest of the poor. Instead, the ballot will read, "Shall
the limiting rate under the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law be
increased by an additional amount equal to .02% above the limiting rate
for levy year 2007 and be equal to .055% of the equalized assessed value
of the taxable property therein for levy year 2008?"

Behind the technical, eye-glazing bureaucratese is very real help for the
extreme poor. And the answer to the question is "yes." For a city as
caring, strong and kind as Champaign, there can be no other answer.

"Yes."

This guest commentary was written and approved by Champaign City Council
members Marci Dodds, Ken Pirok, Gina Jackson and Michael LaDue.


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