Late Property Tax Bills Force Cutbacks in Neighborhood Holiday Decorations (Chicago, IL) – A Bronzeville nonprofit that annually brings Christmas cheer to some of Chicago’s underserved neighborhoods says delays in Cook County’s property tax bills have left communities without their usual holiday décor.
The Love, Unity & Values Institute — better known as The LUV Institute — announced this week that it has been forced to scale back its holiday decorating program after property tax bills, expected Nov. 14, were released too late to fund Special Service Areas (SSAs). SSAs, which pay for amenities such as outdoor Christmas decorations, are financed through a separate tax levied on property owners within designated boundaries.
Because those funds didn’t arrive on time, The LUV Institute can decorate only one neighborhood this season: South Shore.
“It’s heartbreaking,” said Executive Director Cosette Nazon-Wilburn. “We’re working with a couple of block clubs to try and make up the difference. But we’re not going to see Christmas like we did last year without public support.”
The LUV Institute, a 501(c)(3) organization that provides personal and career development programs to at-risk youth and young adults — many of them in foster care — typically runs a holiday marketplace where participants earn stipends and gain entrepreneurial experience by creating wreaths and decorations for light poles, businesses, and local residents across eight Chicago communities.
Nazon-Wilburn said the only reason South Shore will still receive decorations is because the institute was able to work with its grower, who owed the organization a credit from the previous year.
Holiday decorations in South Shore are scheduled to go up Nov. 24 and 25.
Late Property Tax Bills Force Cutbacks in Neighborhood Holiday Decorations
