Thursday, October 26, 2006
Chicago Tribune

Published COOK COUNTY -- Cook County Board President Bobbie Steele on Wednesday introduced her proposed 2007 budget for the Forest Preserve District, a spending plan that makes minor adjustments to the agency and raises the property tax levy by 4.9 percent.

The proposed budget would add six law enforcement officers and two resource management workers while deleting three administrative jobs that had been unfilled. It would also set aside $1 million for tree removal in the event the emerald ash borer is discovered in the forest preserves.

The $147 million spending plan, which is $4 million more than last year's, includes $14 million for the Brookfield Zoo and $8.9 million for the Chicago Botanic Garden.

Two public hearings on the budget are scheduled for Wednesday: at 2 p.m. in the County Building, 118 N. Clark St., Chicago, and at 6:30 p.m. at the Circuit Court facility in Maywood, 1500 Maybrook Drive.