Stroger Vetoes Sales Tax Rollback

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By Shanita Bigelow

The Cook County Board of Commissioners last week voted 12- 5 for a half-cent rollback on the controversial one percent sales tax increase.

Todd Stroger, Board President, hoping that his pleas for the poor and uninsured will prevent the board from overriding his decision, was joined by nurses, doctors, clergy and community residents in front of the main entrance of Stroger Hospital, located at 630 S. Winchester in Chicago this past Monday. Stroger met with the group to formally veto a half penny rollback in the Countys portion of its 1.75 cent sales tax. A new law lessens the number of votes necessary to override a veto from four fifths to three fifths.

Stroger and other supporters of the tax argue that a rollback would be extremely detrimental to the countys health care system, and could curtail services or even shut some hospital and clinic doors. Reports that Provident and Oak Forest hospitals and clinics on the south and west sides would be the likely candidates, have caused much concern.

If that [rollback] happens, people of color will be most impacted The facts are there in black and white, said Sean Howard, spokesman for Strogers office. All residents should contact their commissionersbecause its going to be doomsday here in Cook County if this veto is overridden, he said. The state sales tax is 10.25% andwe account for 1.75% of that. No one has asked [Mayor] Daley to repeal the nine sales taxes hes pushed through, he continued.

Howard called out Commissioners Robert Steele (2nd district) and Earlean Collins (1st), who voted for the rollback, as many of their constituents would be affected by potential cuts in service. Steele and Collins did not return phone calls by press time when the Citizen called to ask about their votes.

Commissioner Anthony Peraica (16th), an unwavering opponent to the tax since its inception, also believes the facts are in black and white. Peraica, who supports a half-cent rollback on the one percent sales tax increase, appeared on WGN Television last week where he said the rollback would not affect the hospitals and clinics, many of which serve Blacks and Hispanics. However, calls to ask about specifics regarding how the healthcare system would be funded without the sales tax also went unreturned by Peraica.

Last week, however, at a meeting to pass President Strogers proposed 2010 budget, Cook County Health & Hospital System management said that the half penny rollback would severely impact funding for the system, which already expects to start the 2011 fiscal year with a deficit of roughly $100 million over funding for 2010 as well as lead to the closure of both Provident and Oak Forest Hospitals, in addition to some or all of Cook Countys 16 neighborhood health clinics.

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