DuPage County Taxes Update
Chicago Suburban Life Letter to the Editor September 24, 2007 Read Isn't it nice to lean that smokers are still considered to be good for something by the DuPage County Board of Commissioners .....like additional taxes....again? This is a portion of what HB 0556 is about, even though the same proposal to allow Illinois counties home rule authority for taxation was defeated last year. This is also one of the reasons why the Assembly vote has been postponed so many times. This year the same taxation authority is being proposed as an amendment to the pending General Assembly tobacco tax bill. Home rule for Illinois counties is in violation of our Illinois Constitution, unless they are given that authority through a referendum/public vote by residents. Garnet Dawn Scheuer Lake Bluff, IL 60044 Illinois Smokers Rights - http://www.illinoissmokersrights.com The Smoker's Club, Inc. - Midwest Regional Director The United Pro Choice Smokers Rights Newsletter - http://www.smokersclubinc.commailto:garnetdawn@comcast.net - Respect Freedom of Choice! ________________________________________ Board members opt to wait on 2007-08 budget By Dan Petrella, dpetrella@libertysuburban.com Sep 11, 2007 The DuPage County Board of Commissioners Tuesday gave Chairman Robert Schillerstrom an extra month to propose next year’s budget while it awaits state approval of a cigarette tax that many officials believe could help solve the county’s budget woes. The board voted 15-3 to suspended rules that would have required Schillerstrom to present his proposed budget by Saturday. Schillerstrom now has until Tuesday, Oct. 16, to offer a proposal. The Illinois General Assembly is considering a bill that would allow DuPage and other collar counties in the Chicago area to implement a $1-per-pack cigarette tax. The current legislative session is scheduled to conclude Friday, Oct. 12. County officials estimated the new tax could generate between $25 million and $40 million annually. Without a new source of revenue, there will be severe cuts in service and jobs, officials have said. “If we don’t find a new revenue source, there will be significant cuts made that will have a serious impact on people’s lives,” Schillerstrom said after Tuesday’s meeting. “It’s not like we have a budget with a lot of fat in it that you can go pare out a certain percentage and it won’t have any impact on people’s lives.” Schillerstrom spent many days this summer in Springfield meeting with lawmakers during the General Assembly’s overtime session. He did not say how many jobs are at stake or how much will be cut from the budget if the cigarette tax is not passed before his proposal is due to the board next month. During the next month, the County Board’s Finance Committee will hold hearings with heads of county departments to see what effect budget cuts might have. “This time won’t be wasted,” Schillerstrom said. “We’d like to go in with a surgical knife rather than across the board cuts. ... I think it’s important we talk to department heads and elected officials to see what kind of impact cuts are going to have on them.” Commissioner Brien Sheahan of Elmhurst was one of three board members who voted against giving the chairman extra time to come up with a budget. “Our job as County Board members, our principal job, is to be appropriators, and I just don’t see a rationale that would allow me to vote to get the budget actually later rather than earlier,” he said. Commissioner James Healy of Naperville, who voted in favor of the extension, suggested that Schillerstrom prepare two budgets — one including the cigarette tax and one without — to show legislators what will happen if the county has to implement “draconian” budget cuts. Schillerstrom said he would only prepare one budget based on whatever the reality of the situation is when the deadline arrives. “I don’t know how you present more than one budget,” he said. “You look at what you have, and then you prepare a budget based on that.” Read
Senate adjourns without voting on cigarette tax January 10, 2007
By Paige Winfield staff writer The dark budgetary cloud over DuPage County grew even darker Tuesday as the Illinois Senate ended its session without giving the county much-needed cigarette-taxing powers. Hoping to save the county from a harsh 2007 budget that falls $21 million short of requested funding, County Board Chairman Bob Schillerstrom joined lobbyists in Springfield during the 94th General Assembly's last three days to push for an additional funding source in the form of a maximum $2 tax on cigarette packs. Before the county could levy a cigarette tax that would generate $25 million to $50 million in revenue, the Senate had to pass a bill that would allow all Illinois counties to impose such a tax. After the House passed the bill Nov. 29, the Senate could only vote it in during its lame duck session, from Sunday to Tuesday. The County Board passed an austere 2007 budget in November, determined to avoid operating under an estimated $50 million deficit in two years. But board members told county departments to postpone program and staffing cuts until after the lame-duck session, anticipating the cigarette tax would give the county a way out of the cutbacks. They also rescheduled the County Board meeting for Thursday, since their usual Tuesday meeting fell on the last day of the lame-duck session. Now the budget cuts the county board passed on paper will hit county departments as they lose staff and cut corners. At the Convalescent Center, the 23 staffers who will be laid off are among 65 county employees who face losing their jobs. Funding for Access DuPage, which provides medical services for the uninsured, will be cut 50 percent, along with funding for mental health initiatives such as the Mental Health Court and Drug Court, which provide alternatives to jail for nonviolent offenders. County grants for not-for-profit agencies that provide community and human services to low-income individuals will be cut 65 percent, and the county's subsidy to the Health Department will be reduced 60 percent. Some of the other cuts include funding for the Juvenile Detention Center and the Children's Center, among other programs. No tax relief, no rate freeze January 10, 2007
BY CHRIS FUSCO AND WHITNEY WOODWARD Staff Reporters SPRINGFIELD -- A fresh batch of state senators and representatives takes office today, but some of the major issues they'll tackle in coming weeks will be all too familiar. The lame-duck Legislature that wrapped up business Tuesday leaves Chicago area residents with no relief on two key issues: soaring Cook County property taxes and skyrocketing ComEd rates that take effect this month. But members of the 95th General Assembly, who will be sworn in this afternoon, say they plan to try to ease divisions that put the issues in legislative gridlock this week. 7% tax cap loses in Senate
"As Arnold [Schwarzenegger] says, 'We'll be back,' " state Sen. Terry Link (D-Lake Bluff) declared after a compromise bill for property tax relief died.
The initiative to extend a 7 percent cap on property tax assessments in Cook County looked possible in the afternoon after the House approved it. But a Senate committee rejected that proposal, arguing it didn't go far enough to help homeowners. On ComEd, state Senate President Emil Jones (D-Chicago) kept senators from considering a rate freeze that passed the House on Sunday. Utility companies say a freeze could hamper service and even force utilities into bankruptcy. But state House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) isn't buying that doom-and-gloom outlook and is vowing to push the freeze again in the new session. A bill that would have allowed counties to levy a cigarette tax of up to $2 a pack also died in the Senate. cfusco@suntimes.comRead
NTUI NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - January 5, 2007
Contact: Jeff Trigg (312) 427-5128 or Jim Tobin (773) 354-2076 (cell)
NTUI RELEASES OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT JONES AND THE ILLINOIS SENATE CALLING FOR OPPOSITION TO COUNTY CIGARETTE TAXES
Honorable Senate President Emil Jones, Jr. and all Illinois Senators;
We urge you to oppose Senate Bill 716 and to let the bill expire this session without action.
Senate Bill 716 is a bad bill for taxpayers, small businesses, and state government revenues and should be opposed now and in any future versions.
Every county already has the opportunity to impose cigarette taxes and the current laws do not need to be changed regarding home rule authority. The power to grant home rule authority to counties currently rests with the voters and that power should not be taken by the General Assembly. Du Page and other counties’ voters have spoken at the ballot box numerous times against giving their county the power to tax cigarettes. Those votes must be honored.
Fiscally, this is a bad bill for state government revenues. State cigarette tax revenues are steadily declining. Through the first six months of FY 2007 state cigarette tax revenues are down $4.3 million from the same time period in FY 2006. FY 2006 state cigarette tax revenues were $120 million lower than FY 2004. Passing Senate Bill 716 will reduce state cigarette tax revenues even more.
Alongside cigarette tax revenues, cigarette sales across the state are declining. In 2006, 57.5 million fewer packs of cigarettes were sold in Cook County than the previous year. Those reduced sales harm small businesses and our economy even more than the state budget. Senate Bill 716 only places higher hurdles in front of small businesses when we should be knocking down hurdles in front of the American Dream.
Finally, tobacco consumers have been picked on more than enough in Illinois. Chicago has the highest cigarette tax in the nation, and Illinois should be looking to cap if not reduce cigarette taxes in the state. These taxes are regressive and hit families and the poor the hardest.
The General Assembly has nothing to gain by passing Senate Bill 716. Doing the counties’ dirty work for them will only present you with harder budget decisions going forward. If the counties want the home rule authority to tax cigarettes, let them go to the voters and ask for it, as they should. Please oppose Senate Bill 716.
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Jim Tobin is President of National Taxpayers United of Illinois.
Jeff Trigg is the Executive Director.
NATIONAL TAXPAYERS UNITED OF ILLINOIS
407 S. Dearborn, Suite 1170 * CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60605
(312) 427-5128 * Fax (312) 427-5139 * Web Site www.ntui.org> * E-mail ntui@ntui.org>
SB 716 - WHEN ILLINOIS POLITICS STINK !!DuPage County has been attempting to impose a county tax of $1.00 per pack of cigarettes this past year but, according to our Illinois Constitution, counties can't impose a user tax without Home Rule Authority.
What to do?
READ
DuPage County seeking state OK to establish cigarette tax
November 12, 2006
By KATHY CICHON STAFF WRITER
VILLA PARK -- With the clock ticking away until DuPage County officials must decide whether to approve a slashed budget to avoid a deficit, the board will make a last-minute appeal to the General Assembly for permission to impose a cigarette sales tax.
"There is no time to waste, and there is no reason not to pass this legislation that has so many positive benefits," said county board member Linda Kurzawa, R-Winfield, who also is president of the DuPage County Board of Health.
Echoing the county's plea are several DuPage human service organizations. During a recent news conference at Easter Seals DuPage and Fox Valley Region, all of those groups pledged support for legislation giving counties the right to impose such a tax. Touting the revenues it would generate, the groups also cited the health benefits.
"This legislation would significantly reduce tobacco use by Illinois residents -- primarily minors -- and save thousands of lives," said Chris Hensley, regional vice president of DuPage and Prairie Land regions of the American Cancer Society.
DuPage is facing a potential budget shortfall of about $50 million over the next two years without additional revenue or significant budget cuts. Last month, County Board Chairman Robert Schillerstrom, R-Naperville, presented the board with a budget that includes significant cuts, including the elimination of jobs.
Because DuPage is not a home-rule county, it cannot impose a cigarette tax without approval from state lawmakers. During the General Assembly's veto session -- which starts next week -- a provision will be introduced as part of Senate Bill 716 to allow nonhome-rule counties the ability to impose such a tax.
"For DuPage County, this is an appropriate area to raise revenue," Kurzawa said
If it passes, the county would have time to amend the proposed budget. Estimates by the county indicate a cigarette tax of $1 per pack could raise between $27 million and $40 million, which could restore some of the cuts presented in the budget draft.
The legislative veto session ends Nov. 30, which also is the deadline for the county board to approve its budget. That is why the matter is so urgent, she said. Read
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