Cook County's economic realities

April 2, 2009
Eugene Mullins: Chicago Tribune

The April 1 Chicago Tribune editorial would be a funny April Fool's Day joke, except that both the Chicago Tribune's editorial writers and some of Cook County's own commissioners apparently believe some of the piece's distortions ("Stroger: 'Borrow more!'").

The Tribune argues that Cook County's sales tax was unnecessary.

The reality is that Cook County would have been forced to slash services in health care and public safety-together about 90 percent of the budget-without the penny increase in the three-quarter-cent sales tax.

The reality is that Cook County has not raised its property tax-capped at $720 million per year-since 1996, and, before the penny increase, had not raised its portion of the sales tax, which exempts vital goods like groceries and medicines, since 1992.

No family in the nation could pay 2009 bills with 1996 dollars, and Cook County can't either.

While the county held the line on costs, the price of everything from fuel to medicines-goes up for government, just as it does for residents.

Without new dollars, the county has just one option: to slash services.

And that's something that County Board President Todd Stroger's administration has refused to do.

Unfortunately neither the Tribune nor some County Board members seem able to grasp this financial reality.

They also seem unable to grasp the difference between issuing bonds for capital expenditures and passing an annual appropriation bill.

Literally thousands of government agencies issue bonds for capital expenditures, which range from new construction to police cars.

And it makes sense to do this, since it allows governments to pay down capital costs for things like construction, for example, which can take several years, or new squad cars, which have use periods of five years or more, for a budget period that reflects the length of the project or the life of the equipment.

To do otherwise would mean the county budget-and county taxpayers-would need to take a hit each year for a project that might last many years.

Most of the county commissioners understand this.

That's why they passed Cook County's capital improvement program and capital equipment requests in early February, and then reaffirmed their adoption of this capital plan on Feb. 20, the same day they passed the 2009 county operating budget.

Commissioners voting yes on this capital plan included some of today's critics of the bond issue to pay for what they agreed to fund.Well you can't have it both ways.

If you approve the county's capital plan, then you need to fund it, as the county board has countless times before, with a responsible bond issue.

-Eugene Mullins, director of public affairs and communications, office of the Cook County Board president, Chicago

21/09/09