Preckwinkle: Sales tax repeal a step in right direction

A partial rollback of the controversial penny-on-the-dollar county sales tax is expected to cost Cook County $53 million in revenues next year, board President Toni Preckwinkle told a group of suburban business officials Wednesday.

Despite that, the Chicago Democrat said, she doesn't regret the pledge she originally made on the campaign trail, even if it increases the county's deficit in the short term.

“What I said on the campaign trail was high sales tax was bad for business and bad for families, particularly at the perimeter of the county,” she said at a GOA Regional Business Association, formerly Greater O'Hare Association, lunch in Elk Grove Village.

Noting that Cook County is the “economic hub” of the Midwest and suffers under its reputation as having the highest sales tax in the country, Preckwinkle called the quarter-cent decline coming Jan. 1 an “important step” toward helping the local economy.

“Consumer spending is far too stagnant,” Preckwinkle said.

“I know some say now is not the time to reduce revenues, (but) I'm confident it is the right choice,” she said.

The final quarter-cent of the sales tax is set to roll back Jan. 1, 2013.

The former Chicago alderman and high school history teacher, in her trademark no-nonsense lecturing style, told attendees that she considered closing the county's $427 million budget gap this year as her biggest achievement since taking office in December.

A more difficult year lies ahead, however, and Preckwinkle repeated previous warnings that layoffs loom on the horizon.

Facing a $315 million shortfall next year, Preckwinkle said, “we've done a lot of the easy things already. We've dealt with the low-hanging fruit. Now it's tougher as we approach the next round of cuts.”

She said it was “too early” to talk about where those layoffs might occur, however.

In addition to layoffs, the county will look at consolidating services to help reduce costs, among them, possibly folding the county recorder of deeds' and treasurer's offices together.

Through Preckwinkle's recently launched “Set Targets, Achieve Results” performance management program, she said the county has noticed that resources are often being misdirected. For instance, she said, she recently discovered the county's revenue department has, for years, been devoting as much time and resources to ensuring residents in unincorporated areas had vehicle stickers as to retrieving uncollected cigarette and alcohol taxes.#8220;One amounts to millions and millions,#8221; Preckwinkle said, referring to the uncollected taxes. #8220;The other, this (fraction).#8221;