New Hope for County Sales Tax Rollback?

Chicago - Cook County is on the verge of becoming more shopper friendly.

County Commissioners who failed, by one vote, to rollback the 20-08 sales tax increase, now believe they have enough votes.

"We have 12 sponsors, we need 11 votes to override a potential veto if President Stroger does that," said 13th dist. commissioner Larry Suffredin.

And commissioners have scheduled a vote for Tuesday morning.

If the rollback happens, the Stroger Administration warns services, particularly in health care will suffer. More than 2,000 county employees could lose their jobs.

The new chief financial officer says there's no need to rush the vote.
Commissioner Suffredin believes lowering the rate will spark more spending.

"I think the rollback is necessary to create a Cook County Stimulus package, right now the fact that our sales tax is over 10 percent seems to be a psychological barrier for some shoppers," he said.

But for some people the tax increase has had a negligible impact. Others say the good will not outweigh the bad.