CHICAGO (AP) — A newspaper is reporting Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle is trying to convince commissioners to go along with a 1-cent increase in the sales tax to fund pensions and balance the county budget.
The Chicago Tribune, citing sources familiar with her plans, reported Preckwinkle has been meeting with commissioners to build support for the tax hike.
Preckwinkle campaigned in 2010 against the 1-cent tax increase adopted in 2008 by the county board. After winning, she moved to roll back the tax, eliminating it in 2013.
Currently, the county portion of the sales tax is 0.75 percent.
Preckwinkle declined to comment Monday on the proposal. Her spokesman says the county’s finance team “is hard at work looking at a number of scenarios for coping with this difficult situation.”
