Apr 6, 2009 4:41 pm US/Central
Townships Will Consider Breaking From Cook County
Some Residents Express Frustration Over High Sales Tax
PALATINE, Ill. (CBS) ―
No one likes to pay more in the check-out line. But the Cook County sales tax has some communities so angry they're threatening to break away and form their own county.
CBS 2's Derrick Blakley reports.
At Norma's Coffee Corner in Palatine, plenty of folks are still hot about
last year's doubling of the Cook County sales tax.
"It was very, very unfair," one person said. "And then you hear of all those corrupt politicians and they sure messed up everything, and we have to pay for it."
Tuesday, residents of Palatine and two other northwest suburban townships have a chance to voice their anger -- voting on whether they want to break away from Cook County.
"That's what is behind it all -- it's the people saying, 'We've had enough,'" Palatine Mayor Rita Mullins said.
Already, lots of Palatine residents do their shopping across Lake-Cook Road, in Lake County, where taxes are lower. Even coffee shop owner Norma Hipchen.
"Sad to say, as a small business owner, I wouldn't want all my customers going up the road for their coffee," she said. "But we bought a computer and guess what? We made the decision, we went up the road just a little bit and saved some money on the computer."
Mullins said Palatine sends $18 million to Cook County now and get only $4 million back in services.
Those numbers resonate in the minds of many Palatine residents.
"Personally, I wish we would secede," Monroe Brooks said. "I'd like to get my money's worth."
Palatine officials have discussed the secession idea previously. But secession wouldn't mean a free lunch. A new county would have to build its own courthouse, its own jail, and hire cops to patrol unincorporated areas.
Still, lots of residents don't care.
"I feel we're getting ripped off by (Cook County Board President Todd) Stroger," Brooks said. "It's ridiculous."
Tuesday's vote is only advisory -- not binding -- and it's on the ballot in Palatine, Barrington and Hanover townships.
In county government, breaking up is hard to do. For a split to become a reality, a majority of voters countywide would have to approve the divorce. That is highly unlikely.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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