Preckwinkle: Sales Tax Hike Necessary To Keep County Afloat
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said Tuesday she will present a preliminary budget plan that includes a proposal to increase the county sales tax she spent years rolling back.
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Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said Tuesday she will present a preliminary budget plan that includes a proposal to increase the county sales tax she spent years rolling back.
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle's proposal to increase the county sales tax – five years after she won office by denouncing an identical tax hike imposed by her predecessor – has some business owners on the county's outskirts worried they'll lose customers.
The Cook County Board president campaigned in 2010 in opposition to a one cent tax increase adopted in 2008. After winning, she moved to roll back the tax, eliminating it in 2013.
Four top Cook County officials offered a wide spectrum of opinions Thursday as they talked about resolving problems in the criminal justice system, though all agreed too many people charged with minor crimes end up locked up in jail.
Illinois judges used to decide whether a young suspect was tried as an adult or a juvenile. Preckwinkle wants to undo a 1982 change in state law which makes transfers for some felony charges automatic – for example, in cases of rape or murder.
Saying he'll get the job done, Cook County Clerk David Orr has endorsed Cook County Commissioner Jesus "Chuy" Garcia for mayor, reports WBBM's Veronica Carter.
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle has ruled out challenging Mayor Rahm Emanuel in next year's mayoral election.
For months, Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis has said she's considering a run for mayor. Now she has taken another step toward jumping in the race.
Illinois lawmakers have quickly advanced a plan to overhaul Cook County's pension system by increasing county payments and reducing some benefits for employees.
Dr. John Jay Shannon, interim CEO of the Cook County Health and Hospitals System said the county's not just running hospitals and clinics, it now has its own Medicaid-managed care plan, called CountyCare.
County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and Sheriff Tom Dart have sought alternate arrangements such as home monitoring for inmates charged with non-violent crimes, but Alvarez expressed reservations to a broad-brush approach to releasing such inmates.
The Cook County Medical Examiner's office says conditions are improving at the morgue thanks to more employees and a new $1.4 million cooler.
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle is making Martin Luther King day an opportunity to have a look inside her own jail, reports WBBM's John Cody.
The Cook County Board's Technology Committee has voted that it's time to stop tracking court cases, prisoners, and trials using carbon paper and sticky notes.
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle fired another shot at Cook County's Chief Judge Timothy Evans Monday, proposing to cut off the nearly-free health insurance the county offers to judges.
Plans to charge motorists a daily fee at the city's criminal courthouse garage and suburban facilities are "on hold" at the moment, but there's a possibility that personnel and other visitors may have to shell out the bucks for parking later this year.
Another Metra board member may be on the verge of being forced from his seat.
The head of the Cook County Board says officials have reluctantly agreed to pay more than half a million dollars to people who were fired for apparently political reasons by Cook County Assessor Joseph Berrios, reports WBBM Political Editor Craig Dellimore
The Cook County Board has voted to cut a tax that primarily affects business purchases made outside of the county.
A noontime ceremony in the Loop paid tribute to almost 400 men and women who died indigent during the past year - and were buried at county expense.
The Lieutenant Governor of Illinois says there's been progress for women, but not enough in terms of pay at an equal pay for women rally in downtown Chicago.
Gun sellers and owners haven't been able to stop it, so a new $25-per-gun tax in Cook County went into effect on Monday.
Local officials say a program to help low–income families connect to the Internet has become the most successful such effort in the nation.
Cook County Board Preident Toni Preckwinkle said Thursday she is troubled that the Chicago Public Schools reportedly plan to close about 50 schools this year.
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said the projected $25 million in new annual revenue from the tax increase will go to the county's hospitals and health centers, which treat more than 300 lung cancer patients each year.
