Cook County Board set to vote on cigarette, bullet taxes - Chicago News and Weather | FOX 32 News

If you smoke, like to shoot guns and live in Cook County, you could soon be digging deeper into your pockets.

Members of the Cook County Board Friday are expected to vote on a budget proposal that targets residents with those habits and hobbies because the county is short on cash.

You will be digging deeper into your pockets if the board approves the plan. It already passed through the finance committee and more than likely will be passed by the full county board as the county tries to make up for a $267.5 million shortfall.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle has come up with $40 million in taxes and fees that could help the county make up some of that money.

Preckwinkle is talking about a $1 tax on cigarettes per pack. That will make Chicago Cook County taxes on cigarettes the most expensive or among the most expensive in the country. The last time they did that was in 2006. Board members thought the tax would generate money but people went to Indiana to buy their cigarettes or they simply quit smoking.

One man says the board should take a pay cut rather than impose these taxes.

"I believe we pay enough taxes as it is. Half of my check is going to taxes. I just sat through watching television interviews with politicians left and right about how they want to make more money. I believe that our country is one of the only countries that has the highest taxes out there. I can't afford it any more. I got two kids, a wife. Find another way to make money. Why don't you guys take a pay cut," the man said.

Another woman says that she will travel to Indiana just to get her cigarettes and this will make her do it all the more often.

Besides the $1 per pack, the county is also talking about imposing a $25 tax on guns. In addition, Preckwinkle wants to charge casino owners $1,000 per slot machine. Eventually that fee will get passed down to those who pull the lever.