Pitching green infrastructures to political leaders: not just benefits, but also tax $
The COVID 19 pandemic exposed the limited and unbalanced access to green infrastructures (GIs). There are many publications about the benefits of GIs. Interestingly, most of the audiences/readers are the believers. It is more of “preaching to the choir”! At the same time, a significant percentage of population does not (or does not want to) believe it. This percentage seems higher among the law/budget makers, both elected and professional. The proof is the large number of budget cuts, layoffs, hire freezes, furloughs, or program reductions in parks and urban/community forestry since March 2020. How to reach these non-believers?
This talk aims to provide tools/resources to the green industry leaders on how to persuade their budget makers. Instead of endlessly talking about the big-picture benefits and economics of GI that seem non-related/non-essential to some law/budget makers, this talk gets directly to tax dollars, the thing they care most. It is two-fold: How do GIs save money? And how do GIs generate more tax revenue? Both are directly connected to the line items in a government budget. If you can assign the benefits of green space with a dollar amount, you can keep from falling asleep!
Learning Objectives:
- Learn the benefits of green infrastructure: air quality, water quality, stormwater retention and detention, energy saving, aesthetic, health, and more.
- Learn the number of ways that green infrastructure can save tax payer’s money, some of which are having a price tag of billion dollars and some of which are related to personal level safety.
- Learn the number of ways that green infrastructure can help increase tax revenue, for example property value increase is directly correlates to property tax increase.