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Preckwinkle’s tax-laden 2016 COOK county budget easily passes
Hal DardickContact ReporterChicago Tribune
Preckwinkle’s budget approved, find out How They Voted
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s $4.5 billion budget won approval Wednesday, and people who shop, stay in hotels and file lawsuits will be paying more next year.
Overall county spending is expected to increase by about $500 million under a budget commissioners approved 12-5. The spending plan depends on a penny-on-the-dollar sales tax increase, a new 1 percent tax on hotels and $20 in additional fees for each lawsuit filed.
Preckwinkle’s budget also includes a 20-cents-per-milliliter tax on the liquids that fuel electronic cigarettes and
AMMUNITION TAX: a bullet tax that ranges from 1 cent to 5 cents per round, depending on the type of ammunition.
All told, the tax hikes are expected to bring in nearly $512 million a year, with the bulk of that — $474 million — coming from the sales tax increase. Come Jan. 1, Chicago once again will have a sales tax rate of 10.25 percent, the highest among big U.S. cities.