Friday, February 06, 2004
Daily Southtown
Editorial

Once again it appears that the Cook County Board has never met a tax increase it didn't like.

After weeks of head-butting over several tax increase plans put forward by board President John Stroger and his staff, a county board committee on Tuesday endorsed a proposal to increase the county cigarette tax by 82 cents a pack, to $1.

Several health advocacy groups in Chicago endorsed the measure as a way to discourage people, primarily teenagers, from smoking, and some members of the county board would have the public believe that was their motivation. But the board's 10-to-7 vote not to use the money for anti-smoking programs revealed the absurdity of that argument.

This is not a health measure. It's a $32 million tax increase made necessary by the refusal of Stroger and the board majority to make spending cuts. (We are skeptical of that revenue estimate, which is already down from $42 million. The new tax, which will increase the cost of a pack of cigarettes to about $6 in Chicago, will drive a large number of smokers to Indiana or Will County, where taxes are lower, cutting the county's take.)

Board member Earlean Collins agreed to support Stroger's cigarette tax increase but warned Stroger that she would switch sides and vote against it when the increase goes before the full board unless Stroger and his allies agree to budget cuts proposed by Collins and other board members.

We hope Collins stands by her word. She resisted all efforts by the Stroger camp to get her support for two other tax plans — a sales tax increase and a new tax on leases. It would be a shame if she backed down now.

And as we've said before, the way for the county to close its budget shortfall is to cut spending, not to increase taxes. Stroger and the board majority insist that there is no way to cut spending. Anyone who has had any contact with Cook County government must be astounded to hear that.

A group of commissioners who oppose the tax increases has made a number of proposals for budget cuts, but Stroger and his loyalists have repeatedly dismissed them.

Collins promises to hold Stroger's feet to the fire on those proposals. Good for her.

Stroger and his supporters need to get this message once and for all. The public wants no tax increase — not even on cigarettes.