Thursday, May 01, 2008
Palatine considers seceding from Cook County
Palatine officials have discussed the idea of seceding from Cook County to avoid the 10 percent total sales tax rate faced by village shoppers when the county's portion increases 1 percentage point on July 1 along with a .25-percentage-point increase for the Regional Transportation Authority.
The new rate would raise about $426 million to cover a $230 million county budget shortfall, according to Palatine officials.
Northwest suburban leaders are concerned the tax increase could hurt local retail sales and government revenues as residents head to Lake, DuPage, Kane and McHenry counties to do their shopping.
To secede from Cook County and form a new county, at least 51 percent of voters would have to sign a petition to get the issue on a ballot. A majority of Cook County voters would have to approve the measure. [Emphasis added.]
So Palatine has to get permission from Cook county in order to secede? What are the chances that a majority of Cook county voters are going to approve shrinking the tax base. Right, zero. Good luck Palatine. I say just vote to secede and then do it. I would love to see this in the courts.
