Cook County Board Expected To Consider Sales Tax Hike Next Week
(CBS) -- The Cook County board will meet in special session Wednesday to consider Board President Toni Preckwinkle's proposal for a 1 percentage point increase in the sales tax.
A spokesman tells WBBM a special meeting of the finance committee, chaired by Commissioner John Daley, who supports the increase, is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. The special board meeting will follow.
Preckwinkle is seeking to reinstate the tax, first enacted during the administration of predecessor Todd Stroger, primarily to cover the county's pension shortfall, along with legacy debt service and infrastructure needs.
Preckwinkle has been trying to line up the nine votes needed for passage by the full board, and she indicated Friday she will have the votes.
The proposed increase would raise the county's portion of the sales tax from .75 percent to 1.75 percent. Chicagoans would pay an overall sales tax rate of 10.25 percent. The increase would raise an estimated $474 million a year.