Stroger tax increase proposal

President of the Cook County Board Todd Stroger says it's essential to raise taxes... big time... to prevent cuts in vital county services.

Chicago Tribune (Mickey Ciokajlo):

Cook County Board President Todd Stroger wants to triple the sales tax and double the gas and parking taxes to pay for 1,130 new county jobs and cover rising costs.

Stroger's critics are skeptical. They point out that in the past Stroger preferred to cut essential services for the poor, rather than jobs for his cronies.

A Sun-Times editorial expressed significant skepticism.

Ah, but look what happens in 2009, when the county gets a full calendar year of those new taxes. It collects a staggering $981 million in extra money -- which Stroger admits is way more than the county will need. But don't worry, he says. He'll simply find a way to put the extra money back in taxpayers' pockets. He says he'd cut the parking tax and the gas tax, maybe even the real estate tax, which amounts to $720 million a year. He's not sure.

"We'll repeal the other taxes and the 2 percent will keep us going," he told the Sun-Times editorial board.

In other words, Stroger wants us to trust him.

Mary Mitchell (Sun-Times) gives a defense of Stroger's tax increase proposal.

If you want to weigh-in on the Forest Preserve portion of the tax increase there will be a hearing at the Maybrook Courthouse on Thursday at 6 PM. See Sun-Times (Steve Patterson).