A week after the Illinois Policy Institute released a report on how Cook County’s 10.25% sales taxA sales tax is levied on retail sales of goods and services and, ideally, should apply to all final consumption with few exemptions. Many governments exempt goods like groceries; base broadening, such as including groceries, could keep rates lower. A sales tax should exempt business-to-business transactions which, when taxed, cause tax pyramiding. pushes shoppers—and revenues—into neighboring counties, the Cook County Board has voted to repeal its recent sales tax increase, which would bring it back down to 9.25%. Board President Todd Stroger has vowed to veto the reduction.
We chronicled how Stroger pushed through this unwise double-digit sales tax back in 2008.
Taxes matter. Surrounded by lower-taxA tax is a mandatory payment or charge collected by local, state, and national governments from individuals or businesses to cover the costs of general government services, goods, and activities. jurisdictions not too far away, it was folly of Cook County to push through such a high sales tax. Our modern mobile society means that cities as well as states and countries must be attuned to nearby tax policy to stay competitive.
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