Cook Co. Board votes to cut sales tax; majority should be veto-proof

The Cook County Board of Commissioners voted to cut the sales tax a half cent on the dollar by a seemingly veto-proof 12-5 margin today.

The final vote came at the end of a contentious two-hour meeting remarkable even by the no-holds-barred standards of the county board, with commissioners openly challenging each other's "guts" amid accusations of "unnecessary theatrics," hypocrisy, electioneering and posturing about posturing. County Board President Todd Stroger called Riverside Republican Commissioner Tony Peraica "Mr. Firebomb Thrower" and later cut off his microphone to limit his remarks.

"This gets so good, sometimes, we ought to charge admission," said Chicago Democratic Commissioner Jerry Butler.

Yet, at the core of the debate was a very serious cut in the sales tax of a halfpenny on the dollar to bring the county's share to 1.25 percent and drop the total sales tax below 10 percent in Chicago and various other municipalities, which sponsoring Evanston Democratic Commissioner Larry Suffredin called "a psychological barrier" to county consumers.

Chicago Democratic Commissioner John Daley, chairman of the Finance Committee, said it would cost the county at least $180 million annually, but backed it as a way to force reforms, saying, "County government is going to change."

"The board has the power of the purse, and we've never used it," echoed Chicago Democratic Commissioner Forrest Claypool, adding that the cut was necessary to "say no to the higher revenue that sustains the system," even as he decried the "unnecessary theatrics" of the board.

Stroger, however, called the cut "reckless" and argued it would cripple the county's Health and Hospitals System and most likely cause clinics to close. "This has really become a battle of the haves and have-nots," he said. "The thing that's going to be hurt the most is our universal health care."

Democratic Commissioners Butler, William Beavers, Joseph Mario Moreno and Deborah Sims of Chicago and Crestwood's Joan Patricia Murphy all agreed and voted against the sales-tax reduction. That still left the 17-member board with more than the 11 votes necessary to override a veto.

Three previous attempts to override failed to meet a required four-fifths majority, but the General Assembly just voted to cut that to a more conventional three-fifths, or 11 votes. Signed into law by Gov. Patrick Quinn earlier this month, that change led directly to a fourth attempt at today's specially called meeting.

Stroger promised to veto the measure "very soon," but commissioners said it was unlikely to be in time for the override to be taken up at Wednesday's regularly scheduled meeting.

"It would be interesting if he vetoed it tonight to see if we can put it on the agenda tomorrow," said Bartlett Republican Commissioner Timothy Schneider. Yet, his Republican colleague Liz Gorman of Orland Park said she thought that unlikely and expected Stroger to wait the full five business days he's allowed before acting on it.

Stroger said he "can't answer" whether he would fight the new, lower override threshold in court on constitutional grounds.

Schneider, Gorman and Peraica led an earlier attempt to roll back the entire 1 percentage point increase in the county sales tax imposed last year, which got the meeting off to a rip-roaring start.

"We cannot continue to bite the hand that feeds us, our communities, our businesses," Gorman said. "We need to stop giving consumers excuses to shop outside Cook County."

Schneider said it would "increase our tax base by increasing sales, not increasing the tax."

"We'll find out today in a roll call who has the guts," Peraica added.

Daley and Suffredin said the 1 percent proposal violated a previous compromise on the 0.5 percent cut. "This amendment is not offered in good faith," Suffredin said.

Chicago Democratic Commissioner Bridget Gainer called it "grandstanding" and said the 0.5 percent compromise was necessary "if we're serious about actually doing something."

Sims and Beavers both rose to the challenge of their "guts" in voting against both proposed cuts. "What we need now is a little more common sense and a little less guts," Butler added.

"We're going to see a county government that's going to go to hell," Sims said.

In the end, the 1 percent cut failed by a 10-6 vote. "Half a loaf is better than no loaf at all," Peraica said, before launching into a diatribe that eventually touched on personal matters in the Daley family.

"You don't know when to shut up," Stroger said in ordering Peraica's microphone shut off.

"This board has slipped to an all-time low," Sims said, and Republican Commissioner Peter Silvestri of Elmwood Park decried the "lack of civility and lack of respect," while asking to move from his seat alongside Peraica.

Whether or not the veto is done in time for Wednesday's meeting, the tax cut could derail the 2010 budget process. If passed, the tax cut would take effect July 1, in time to affect the last two months of the fiscal year, meaning the board will have to immediately find $32 million in cuts, according to Suffredin. He said it was still possible to do so by Thursday, the initial target date Stroger and Daley had set for passage of the 2010 budget, but he was alone in that optimism.

<p class="factboxheadblack">Sales tax saga</p> <p class="News">February 2008 - Cook County commissioners led by President Todd Stroger raise sales tax by 1 percentage point. Minimum sales tax climbs to 9 percent in suburban Cook County, with many towns higher.</p> <p class="News">May 6, 2009 - Commissioners repeal sales tax increase. </p> <p class="News">May 19 - Commissioners fail to override Stroger's veto, then vote to eliminate 0.75 percent of the sales tax hike in 2010 and remaining 0.25 percent in 2011.</p> <p class="News">June 2 - Commissioners again fail to override Stroger's veto. </p> <p class="News">July 21 - Commissioners roll back tax by 0.50 percentage points.</p> <p class="News">Sept. 1 - They again fail to override Stroger veto after a last-minute vote change by Commissioner Deborah Sims of Chicago. </p> <p class="News">Oct. 29 - Illinois legislature reduces the majority needed for an override from four-fifths to three-fifths, and Gov. Patrick Quinn signs it on Nov. 7.</p> <p class="News">Nov. 17 - Commissioners vote 12-5 to cut the sales tax by 0.50 percentage points.</p>