DuPage Co. workers to rally for sales tax hike to pay for public safety

Hundreds of DuPage County employees, some of whom may lose their jobs, are expected to rally at noon Tuesday in support of a sale-tax increase.

Workers insist the cash-strapped county government has created such a mess for their offices that further cuts will compromise public safety.

The DuPage County Board is grappling with a sizable financial shortfall and has threatened layoffs of 235 people.

DuPage County State's Attorney Joseph Birkett organized the rally, to be held outside the Wheaton county complex after the board's regular meeting.

He is pushing a referendum asking DuPage County voters if they'd approve a quarter-cent sales tax increase for non-essential merchandise and services to pay for public safety.

The county board must agree to put the question on the Feb. 5 primary ballot.

"People choose to live in DuPage County for two reasons -- safe communities and good schools," Birkett said. "One does not happen without the other and the criminal justice system is the centerpiece of each."

He added: "We cannot allow these cuts to happen. If the proposed budget is imposed, it will have a drastic effect on public safety in our county."

Birkett has lobbied for the tax hike before, but it fell on deaf ears with the county board and was never posed to voters. Leaders had hoped the Illinois General Assembly would bail them out with legislation enabling the county to enact a cigarette tax, but that option looks highly unlikely.

Meanwhile, Chairman Robert Schillerstrom's proposed budget is about $50 million less than this year's spending plan.

The proposed reductions include firing 179 employees who work in criminal justice, such as in the sheriff, probation, clerk, public defender and state's attorney offices, eliminating the health department's free urgent dental-care clinic and shutting down the DuPage Historical Museum.

A majority of board members have said they wouldn't vote for the budget as it stands. One alternative would be a temporary cut in salaries for staff instead of layoffs. Another idea is to create a countywide $50 vehicle-sticker fee.

In Cook County, picketing prosecutors were successful this summer in getting 8 percent raises and $500 bonuses. The $21 million price tag will likely be paid through tax increases.

Birkett invited several other local, county and state lawmakers to join him at Tuesday's rally, as well as area police and fire chiefs and members of victims' rights groups.

The rally begins at noon in the county complex courtyard, at County Farm and Manchester roads.