Cook County eliminates wheel tax

Residents of unincorporated Cook County will not be required to buy county vehicle registrations beginning next summer.

The county board on Thursday unanimously passed the Wheel Tax Elimination Ordinance sponsored by Cook County Commissioner Kevin Morrison. The idea is to help ease economic pressures on families. That annual fee is $80 for smaller passenger vehicles and $100 for larger passenger vehicles, but significant fines can be added if residents are late in registering.

"Today, we take another step towards making Cook County one of the most equitable in the nation by eliminating a regressive tax that has been a burden on county residents," Morrison, a Mount Prospect Democrat, said in a statement.

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