Revenue error leads to county comptroller’s firing

A $90 million overstatement of tax revenues has prompted Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle to fire Comptroller Constance Kravitz.

Kravitz, picked by former County Board President Todd Stroger in September 2009, filled a post that pays $165,000 annually. She was fired Wednesday.

According to Preckwinkle, the county staff was preparing financial reports for a routine audit of the 2010 fiscal year when they caught a discrepancy. On further investigation, they found duplicate journal entries for $66 million in sales tax revenue and $24 million in cigarette tax revenue.

When asked about Kravitz’s dismissal, Preckwinkle’s chief of staff Kurt Summers pointed to the discrepancy, adding it was time to go in a different direction.

Kravitz told the Chicago Sun-Times she wishes the person replacing her good luck.