DuPage chairman now fighting tax hike

DuPage County Board Chairman Robert Schillerstrom said he will seek to repeal a sales tax increase on the off chance it's approved by voters Feb. 5.

The chairman finds himself in the strange position of campaigning against a ballot initiative he originally championed. Money the county needed to stave off a doomsday budget is being provided through the state's mass transit bailout.

"This county board has the ability to repeal it," he said. "We do not need, nor do we want, another sales tax increase for public safety."

He said he would have proposed a resolution binding the board to such action, but there was no time to add it to the board's Tuesday agenda after the state legislature approved the financing package Thursday.

As part of that state transit deal, a quarter percentage point is added to the five collar counties' sales tax, including DuPage. That money can be used to for transportation or public safety issues. The Feb. 5 ballot question asks voters to approve such a tax hike to fill a budget shortfall and keep the county from laying off nearly 240 public safety employees.

State's Attorney Joseph Birkett, who also is serving as chairman of the tax increase initiative, said organizers of that campaign already have switched gears and are urging voters to reject the question.

"We've already begun telling people they can vote 'no' now," he said. "We've changed the message on the Web site."

Schillerstrom said the county expects to collect roughly $20 million to $24 million this year alone from the sales tax increase.

Though it is expected to be ratified by Regional Transportation Authority officials soon, collection of the tax won't begin for a few more months, and it isn't expected to show up in the county coffers until June or July, he said. County officials believe the new tax could generate anywhere from $35 million to $47 million throughout the course of an entire year.

The board is expected to begin amending the budget in the coming weeks, Schillerstrom said it may require "multiple" meetings before the Feb. 15 deadline for the budget to be enacted.

"Most people believe we're going to be able to avoid the cuts in personnel and programs that were anticipated," he said.

The board still has to hash out how much of the new funding will go toward public safety issues and how much will go toward transportation issues.

"No less than half should be used for transportation funding," said District 5 board member James Healy, who also serves as the board's transportation committee vice chairman.