Sep 28, 2007 10:59 am US/Central
Critics Say Sales Tax Hike Would Hurt Cook County
Stroger: They're Just Crying Wolf
CHICAGO (STNG) ―
An increased Cook County sales tax would disproportionately hurt poor people, drive consumers to less-taxing areas and drive tourists away from Chicago.
That's according to a group of critics who came together from affluent communities and poor ones, black neighborhoods and white, who own businesses and who struggle to buy milk each week.
Board President Todd Stroger scoffs that they're just crying wolf, saying that if commissioners will just approve a 2 percentage-point sales-tax hike Monday, he won't have to come back for any other tax hikes for a while.
The rhetoric is expected to continue to ramp up throughout the weekend, as Stroger staffers have organized their own pro-tax rally for Sunday, all leading toward a possible vote on Monday to increase the county sales tax 266 percent, from .75 percent to 2.75 percent.
And now, even the sponsor of that measure, south suburban Commissioner Joan Murphy, says she's open to eliminating the increase after "new revenues" come in, though she couldn't identify many.
The sales tax proposal is being pushed for a Monday vote to allow the county to begin collecting it on Jan. 1.
But Stroger has yet to present a budget to say how he'd spend the $749 million a 2 percent hike would bring to the $3 billion government.
But he did say the county has a $307 million deficit and must fill it somehow.
He stopped short of endorsing a sales tax but said, "I'm not against the idea of a 2 percent [sales tax] increase," though with other tax options available, "I'm not for any specific one."
(Source: Sun-Times News Group Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2006. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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