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CCHCC urges support for the City of Champaign Township Tax Levy

October 17, 2024

If you live in the city of Champaign, you have an opportunity to cast a vote to support funding for the STRIDES Homeless Shelter and homelessness-prevention efforts provided by the City of Champaign Township. The ballot initiative involves a slight property tax increase within the City of Champaign.
 
Champaign County Health Care Consumers (CCHCC), along with the County’s Continuum of Service Providers to the Homeless (CSPH), are urging Champaign residents to vote YES to this ballot initiative.
 
About the Property Tax Levy
Voters in the City of Champaign will see the proposed property tax levy on their ballots. The measure reads as follows:
 
“CITY OF CHAMPAIGN TOWNSHIP
 
PROPOSITION TO INCREASE THE LIMITING RATE
 
Shall the limiting rate under the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law for the City of Champaign Township be increased by an additional amount equal to 0.1786% above the limiting rate for the purpose of maintaining a 24/7, low-barrier shelter and providing for Assessor’s Office needs for levy year 2023 and be equal to 0.2203% of the equalized assessed value of the taxable property therein for levy year 2024?”
 
Why CCHCC and CSPH are urging support for this property tax levy
The City of Champaign Township operates STRIDES, which is the only “low-barrier” shelter in Champaign County. Low-barrier means that STRIDES can provide shelter to almost all homeless individuals, including those with substance use disorders.
 
STRIDES has 64 beds and 10 expansion cots for residents experiencing homelessness, and is currently operating a wait list for individuals who want to get in to STRIDES.
 
The shelter’s staffing costs are primarily funded by federal COVID relief dollars provided through the City of Champaign, but these dollars are expected to last only through the end of June 2025. If no new funding is available, STRIDES will have to close and our community will no longer have a low-barrier shelter.
 
Additionally, the City of Champaign Township also operates a Rental Assistance Program, which helps to prevent homelessness among individuals and families who owe back rent and are at risk of eviction, and helps support move-in costs for individuals and families transitioning from homelessness to an rental apartment or home. In the last year, this program has served 208 households.
 
CCHCC’s work with homeless individuals at STRIDES Shelter
CCHCC knows the importance of STRIDES Shelter for our community. Our staff routinely work with clients of STRIDES, and the Staff at STRIDES, to provide outreach and enrollment services for Medicaid, Medicare, SNAP, and Disability (SSI and SSDI) Programs. We have a presence at STRIDES on a weekly basis as we partner with the Shelter to provide stabilizing services to the individuals who are there, so that they can move from homelessness to housing.
 
Our community would be devastated by the loss of the STRIDES shelter. The individuals who stay at STRIDES until they can get housed would also be devastated because there is no other low-barrier shelter or housing programs locally that could absorb so many homeless clients.
 
Sadly, STRIDES has had over 70 homeless individuals who are aged 62 and older. Nationally, there is an increase in the number of elderly individuals who are being homeless, and we are seeing this increase in our own community.
 
Being homeless is harmful to a person’s health, and being homeless on the streets without shelter can be devastating and lead to early death. Our community is fortunate to have STRIDES as a low-barrier shelter, so that individuals can have shelter as they move from homelessness to being housed, a process that can take a long time in our community.
 
Please vote YES to the City of Champaign Township Tax Referendum!
Again, CCHCC urges City of Champaign residents to vote YES to the property tax referendum that will help fund the STRIDES Shelter and the homeless-prevention services provided by the City of Champaign Township.

Thank you for your consideration!

Sincerely,
Champaign County Health Care Consumers