Voters approved a tax increase for the Cook County Forest Preserve District this election to shore up the district’s finances. [Facebook/Cook County Forest Preserve District]

Voters have elected to raise their own taxes to shore up funds for the Forest Preserve District of Cook County and ease the district’s reliance on its reserves and reduce the likelihood of future budget holes.

The Clean Air, Clean Water, and Wildlife Habitat Protection Referendum, which raises the property tax rate for the forest preserves by one quarter of one tenth of a percent, or 0.025 percent, was approved Nov. 8 with about 67.6 percent of the voters voting “yes” as of 10:34 p.m. Tuesday.