By John Walker
Special to Inside
In a local taxpayer protest harking back to the now-famous Boston Tea Party of 1773 when American patriots challenged the British system of taxation, the Chicago-based Tax Reform Action Coalition (TRAC) has selected the Lincoln Park monument of David Kennison—the oldest survivor of the Boston Tea Party—as the site of local "tax revolt" on Thursday, August 14.
The group and its supporters will be protesting huge increases in this year's triennial property tax reassessment of the City of Chicago by the Cook County Assessor's office. The tax revolt will be held at the monument, located opposite 1850 N. Clark St.
At 6 p.m. TRAC will begin collecting homeowner tax complaints placed on index cards, and will attach them to tea bags. A rally will follow at 7 p.m. TRAC will later deliver the protest card tea bags to Mayor Richard M. Daley's office in their stand against "unfair taxation."
Kennison, honored by the Lincoln Park monument, died in Chicago in 1852 at age 115. He was the last surviving participant of the Boston Tea Party and is buried near the monument.
"That Kennison was one of the Americans protesting unfair taxes in 1773 makes the monument a perfect location to stage a Chicago Tea Party tax revolt,” says Barbara Head, president of TRAC. “We are asking that the triennial reassessment be repealed with the assistance of Mayor Daley. Many property owners have already received their new property tax reassessments, and many of their assessments have more than doubled.”
TRAC is an independent organization whose goal is to educate and mobilize elected officials and taxpayers in Chicago, Cook County and throughout Illinois on the need to reduce local government’s reliance on property taxes as a revenue source and of the inequities of the current system and its human impact.
More information on TRAC and the Aug. 14 Chicago Tea Party tax protest can be obtained by calling (312) 458-9202 or visiting www.trac-il.org.
|
