Cook County Board should override Stroger's veto and repeal the tax hike

Cook County President Todd Stroger says repealing a sale tax increase would put the county in a $250 million hole. He vetoed the county board's decision to roll back the tax.

Stroger told the Sun Times that eliminating a full percent from 1.75 percent to .75 percent would result in closing down health clinics that serve the uninsured. To further the populace in the public opinion battle, Stroger said the number of patients coming to county health facilities with no insurance or no ability to pay is up 10 percent this year.

Last week, the county board voted 12-3 to rollback the tax from 1.75 percent to .75 percent. A majority of board commissioners who supported the repeal have said the shortfall could be made up by better budget management, including scaling back patronage hiring. Stroger said the board doesn't have the votes to override his veto.

But Stroger doesn't think so. Of course Stroger is well known for hiring political cronies and putting his family members on the county payroll. Stroger has his supporters, but the truth of the matter is Cook County is taxed too high. Numerous county residents travel to DuPage County to shop so they can save money on sales taxes. In the April elections, residents of three Cook County municipalities supported a non-binding resolution to leave Cook County because of the high taxes.

County board members would do well to remember that taxes are going up across the state because government is out of control. Tell Stroger no and repeal the tax.