County Board slaps away Stroger taxes

Chicago Tribune

February 25, 2005

By Mickey Ciokajlo

The Cook County Board Thursday handed President John Stroger an embarrassing defeat, dispatching controversial hotel and restaurant tax increases he had pushed, by approving a 2005 budget that included a string of cost-cutting measures he opposed.

Only a day earlier, a frustrated Stroger ridiculed as "nuts" the commissioners pushing multimillion-dollar cuts and vowed to veto many of the proposals. But with the tide clearly running against him, Stroger largely retreated from that threat Thursday and even joined in voting for the $3 billion spending plan, which was approved in a unanimous 17-0 vote.

Stroger has been president for a decade and until recently ran the board with an iron fist. But after a batch of politically ambitious new members joined in 2002, he began to run into resistance.

Thursday's vote marked the second straight year the board turned back Stroger's tax proposals. In all, commissioners voted to slash more than $60 million in spending from Stroger's original blueprint, although details of what programs and services actually will be cut were fuzzy, and many commissioners said the budget was so bloated that taxpayers wouldn't notice.

Some line items that were pared referred to spending on salaries, books and periodicals, travel expenses, postage and training expenses. Stroger's health facilities chief told commissioners that the $17 million they chopped from his budget might force the closing of four public health clinics, but Stroger later downplayed that possibility.

Asked if his departments could get by with the unwanted cuts to his budget, Stroger said, "I'm certain we can if we have to."

"We don't want to keep a fight going on for no reason whatsoever," Stroger said. "If I find out this thing can be worked out successfully, there's no reason to veto it."

In the end, Finance Committee Chairman John Daley didn't even call for a vote on Stroger's plan to balance the budget by creating new 2 percent county taxes on hotel stays and restaurant meals.

"It's an absolute historic day for the board and for local taxpayers," said Lise Valentine, research director of the Civic Federation, a budget watchdog group. Valentine said the spending cuts fell short of the long-term restructuring the county needs but were a good beginning.

Business groups waged an aggressive campaign against the taxes, which they contended would hurt an already lagging convention industry.

The budget's passage without the new taxes was a victory for the bloc of Republicans and opposition Democrats.

"This is evidence of a larger sea change in Cook County," said Democratic Commissioner Mike Quigley.

"This whole county needs to be restructured and streamlined, and we're a long way away ... We're at least at the point where change is a recognized commodity."

Although the budget battle had been building for weeks, the final showdown played out in a marathon board meeting that spanned two days. While it was punctuated with much rancor, the session ended with commissioners making a public show of unity.

Even some who were the most vocal opponents of Stroger's taxes went out of their way to praise the president.

"We may not always agree with John, but John is an outstanding representative of our political and our governmental community," said Commissioner Carl Hansen (R-Mt. Prospect).

"He's an outstanding family man, and he loves his job. And he works with that love in mind."

Hansen sponsored the amendment that cut the most from Stroger's budget, and when that proposal passed by 1 vote late Wednesday it appeared to turn the tide against the president.

Stroger also struck a conciliatory tone with his colleagues Thursday, but he still warned them that next year's budget could be even more difficult. He said early projections pointed to a more than $190 million hole that would need to be filled.

"I'm glad this is over," Stroger said.

"This has been a good learning experience for us all."

Copyright 2005, Chicago COPYRIGHT

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