Wednesday, February 04, 2004
Chicago Tribune
by Mickey Ciokajlo

By one vote, Cook County commissioners tentatively approved an 82-cents-a-pack increase in the cigarette tax Tuesday, even as Board President John Stroger pulled the plug on his plan to boost the sales tax and begin taxing leases on cars and other equipment.

Although final adoption is likely, the cigarette tax increase won't be official unless it carries over into the county's 2004 budget, expected to be voted on in the next few weeks.

The increase would mean that beginning April 1, smokers in Chicago could expect to pay a combined $2.53 a pack in city, state, county and federal taxes. The county's share would be $1, up from the current 18 cents a pack.

The tax increase passed 9-8, with Commissioner Earlean Collins casting the swing vote in favor of the increase. Collins cautioned, however, that she would withdraw support when the issue comes up for a final vote if she is dissatisfied with negotiations over the final shape of the $2.99 billion budget proposed by Stroger.

Collins has offered several amendments to Stroger's plan that she said are designed to eliminate wasteful spending, strengthen the role of board commissioners and hold other elected county officials more accountable for their budgets.

The board is scheduled to vote on the amendments Feb. 23. The county's fiscal year began Dec. 1, but passage of a new budget has been stalled over lack of support for Stroger's request to authorize the lease tax, as well as to increase the county sales tax by 0.25 of a percentage point.

The 17-member board, meeting as a whole as the Finance Committee, had been scheduled Tuesday to vote on the sales tax increase. But the committee's chairman, John Daley, did not call for a vote because Collins said she would not support it, leaving the administration one vote short.

Afterward, Stroger said he will not seek passage of either the sales tax increase or the new lease tax, leaving a $25.7 million hole that must be closed through spending cuts.

Stroger said he met Monday with other elected county officials and told them to prepare to cut their budgets. He suggested cuts could be made in some areas--such as travel expenses--that would have minimal impact on county operations.

Commissioners who opposed Stroger's tax increases have insisted that cost savings could balance the budget without cutting services or jobs.

"We're going to have to get some cooperation from the commissioners and all of the elected officials," Stroger told reporters after the meeting. "We'll see what happens."

Increasing the cigarette tax was not part of Stroger's initial budget plan, but Commissioner Roberto Maldonado pitched it as an alternative to the lease tax.

Maldonado argued that the increase would cause people to quit smoking, reducing the county's health-care costs and raising new revenue.

Retailers who testified Tuesday said the increase will force more smokers to buy cigarettes in Indiana, where taxes are lower, or in collar counties. Some said they may be forced to lay off workers as a result.

One anti-smoking advocate told commissioners they would be heroes for passing the tax increase, prompting the owner of two Lincoln Park neighborhood convenience stores to sarcastically suggest they go further.

"If you really want to be heroes, raise it to $100 and effectively make it illegal," said Robert Rinaldi.

The commissioners who voted against the cigarette tax increase said the county needs to examine its spending priorities before it boosts taxes. Commissioner Larry Suffredin offered an amendment that would have directed all the new revenue raised by the cigarette tax increase into health programs for tobacco-related illnesses. The amendment failed.

The tax increase is expected to generate an additional $32.3 million in 2004, said Barbara Bruno, the county's revenue director. The county had already expected $37 million based on the 18-cent tax.

Bruno said the projections were the administration's best estimates of the expected drop in cigarette sales.

"Anywhere you live in Cook County, you are 30 minutes from buying cigarettes somewhere else," Bruno said.