Stroger releases tax returns for the past two years

Cook County Board President Todd Stroger released his federal tax returns for the last two years today.

He called on his opponents in Tuesday's primary - Chicago Hyde Park Alderman Toni Preckwinkle, Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown and Metropolitan Water Reclamation District President Terrence O'Brien - to do the same, but they responded with a combined shrug.

Stroger's 2007 tax returns showed he cleared about $139,000 from the county. (According to the campaign, his $170,000 salary was trimmed by furlough days.) His wife, Jeanine, who works part time in human resources for the state, made about $54,000, for a combination of about $192,000. Yet, an $80,000 withdrawal from Stroger's retirement plan resulted in an $11,000 shortfall in his $59,000 tax payment. The Internal Revenue Service slapped a lien on his Chicago home over the shortfall last year, but the Strogers entered a payment plan, and he said Wednesday, when he announced he'd be releasing his tax returns, that they have now paid about half of what they owed.

Their 2008 returns showed the couple made about the same $193,000 and paid $32,000 in federal taxes.

Along with the returns, Stroger put out a statement suggesting Preckwinkle was "beholden to a group of particular real-estate developers," and quoting an O'Brien media interview in which he said he "would be happy to" release his tax returns.

Preckwinkle and O'Brien both rebuffed Stroger's call for them to release their returns, Preckwinkle calling it a "publicity stunt," while O'Brien said his income - a reported $70,000 from the MWRD and more than $100,000 from his K-Plus consulting business - was already a matter of public record. Brown did not return repeated calls.

Preckwinkle's campaign issued a statement saying, "Toni is staying focused this week on the task at hand - ending the Stroger legacy of patronage, waste, fraud and incompetence."

Actually, when news of the tax lien on Stroger's home broke last May, he said politicians who release their returns - such as Chicago's Mayor Daley - were doing more than what was necessary and that he would not be releasing his. "I think they're making a mistake," Stroger said. "It's really none of your business."

The Stroger campaign also declined to say whether or not it continues to hold two certificates of deposit worth a combined $500,000 at the Amalgamated Bank, as declared in an end-of-the-year financial disclosure. Campaign Treasurer Marlo Kemp said only: "The campaign has maintained sufficient liquidity to ensure that we can wage a successful primary campaign while maintaining reserves for the general election in November."