Tax Relief? Repeal the Entire Stroger Sales Tax Hike
The Chicago Tribune reports about how some on the county board are trumpeting the “tax relief” provided when they (spurred by Commissioner Peraica) shaved half a percentage point off the massive sales tax increase pushed by Todd Stroger in 2008.
Calling that minute, half-percentage point reduction “tax relief” is an insult to the taxpayers of Cook County — who deserve nothign less than a full repeal of the Stroger tax hike.
Commissioner Peraica is quoted in the Tribune:
“In my mind, it was just a partial rollback of an ill-advised tax increase,” said Commissioner Tony Peraica, R-Riverside, who voted against the original increase. “I wanted the whole increase rolled back.”
Todd’s $6.7 Million ‘Human Error’
It’s not that Todd doesn’t know the rules. Apparently he just doesn’t care about them.
Why else — after being reprimanded by both the Chicago media and the County Board — would he go ahead and approve yet another questionable taxpayer-funded contract to a crony?
The Daily Herald reports:
Cook County Board President Todd Stroger’s administration acknowledged Wednesday that 25 checks worth more than $6.7 million were paid out before receiving the required board approval.
Stroger attributed the “mistake” to “human error,” calling it “more of an issue of you pressed a button when you shouldn’t have done it.” He asked for tolerance, saying, “This is not time to pull someone over the rails.”
Yet, Riverside Republican Commissioner Tony Peraica said some of the checks were as large as $700,000 and pointed to it as a dramatic escalation of the so-called 24-9 contracts - payments just under the $25,000 figure requiring board approval - that Stroger handed out as a lame duck after losing in the Democratic Primary earlier this year. “The ship is not being steered,” Peraica said. “The management is not managing.”
$6.7 million worth of “human error.” Commissioner Peraica is right that the ship isn’t being steered. In fact, it hit the iceberg a long time ago.
And county taxpayers are left treading water.
Join Us For The Citizens For Peraica Fundraiser
I invite you to watch this brief message as we kick off our re-election effort with a fundraiser on Thursday, August 26.
Citizens For Peraica Fundraiser
August 26, 2010
6:00pm - 10:00pm
Donation: $75 per person
Pescatore Palace Banquet Hall
3400 N. River Rd.
Franklin Park, IL
Helpful Q&A About FEMA Flood Assessment
Over at his Commissioner’s Office Web site, Commissioner Peraica reposts this helpful, informative Q&A about the FEMA damage assessment due to recent flooding.
It’s All In The Family In Suburban McCook.
The CBS 2 Chicago News story below details the family patronage that is happening in the suburban town of McCook.
That’s right —in the small suburban town of only 250 residents, CBS 2 news reporter Kristyn Hartman counted at least 12 relatives of Mayor Jeffrey Tobolski, including his own wife who work or contract for something with the village of McCook.
From the police station to the public library — it was hard not to find a place where a family member of Tobolski wasn’t on the village payroll.
“I am sickened when I see taxpayer money wasted year after year on the unnecessary jobs and positions just to keep somebody’s nephew, mother, sister, paid,” said Peraica.
Check out the video below from last nights interview on CBS 2 News Chicago.
Cook County ‘Jobs’ Program Lost $2.7 Million
ABC 7 Chicago reports:
State documents show that Cook County lost $2.7 million meant to teach job skills to hundreds of suburban residents because it didn’t spend the federal money.
The cash was lost at a time when more than one out of 10 Chicago-area workers are unemployed.
Because of the problems, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity is moving to take over the program until Cook County Board President Todd Stroger’s term ends in December.
The good news is that action is being taken to hold this program accountable. The bad news is that the new watchdog will be the State of Illinois.
Todd’s Missing Campaign Cash
Fox Chicago News is reporting that Todd Stroger’s campaign is “missing” $43,000 from the campaign bank account:
But something tells us Todd (or someone in the campaign) knows exactly where that cash went.
On primary election day, Cook County Board President Todd Stroger cashed two big campaign checks to provide money for getting out the vote. Now the campaign can’t explain exactly where the cash went.
Stroger himself went to Seaway Bank that morning and cashed checks for $18,000 and $25,000. The checks were made out to Stroger. Campaign officials tell us the $43,000 in cash was given to campaign workers as “walking around money” — petty cash used to pay campaign workers.
Walking around money?
Sounds little bit fishy to us. And, as Fox Chicago News reports, the way this money was handled violates campaign finance laws.
As Commissioner Peraica is quoted in the story:
“There’s a pattern of misreporting, false inaccurate incomplete information, that is done either intentionally or gross (negligence) by his finance campaign director,” said Peraica.
Is it just us, or has this been the longest, most troubled “lame duck” period for any politician in history?
Todd, we can’t wait to see you retire.
Tony on Quinn’s Cook County “Tax Reform” Gimmick
PrairieStater.com quotes Tony regarding the gimmicky Cook County property “tax reform” bill signed into law this week by Governor Quinn:
Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica (R-16), who is also a real estate attorney, is looking for real reform. “We need to reform the tax assessment process to reflect that of Texas, Florida and dozens of other states where you don’t need a PhD in mathematics to figure out how your real estate is assessed and taxed,” Peraica said. “I don’t support these gimmicks and would move for a system that would promote truth in taxation. I would support acquisition based assessment: what is the purchase price of the property, apply the tax levy of various taxing units (there are way to many) and that is your bill. Forget about the equalizer. Exemptions granted should be clear and easy to calculate/implement.”
CBS 2 Chicago Reports on our Flood Assistance Meeting
CBS 2 Chicago reported on Commissioner Peraica’s town hall meeting on local flood assistance efforts. You can view the video here.
CBS 2 Chicago’s Vince Gerasole reports:
Where is the federal aid? Thousands of rain-soaked and flood-ravaged families in our area are asking that question. Torrential downpours last weekend dumped 60 billion gallons of water on the Chicago area. Today those folks are still trying to clean up and dry out.
“The process is fraught with bureaucracy and it is taking too long,” said Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica.
Peraica sponsored a disaster information seminar Saturday morning. He says a team from the County is in Washington today lobbying the state’s Congressional delegation and the White House to push the declaration along, a process that could take up to six more weeks.
NY Times: Cook County Health System Staff Reductions ‘Not Enough’
The New York Times reported on staff reductions at the Cook County Health and Hospital System — quoting Commissioner Peraica in their story:
Despite facing a $42 million shortfall in patient revenue, the Cook County Health and Hospitals System has laid off only 100 workers out of the 1,350 positions that administrators promised to eliminate this fiscal year.
A six-month status report shows 665 vacant positions and 335 filled positions that have been eliminated. But of the filled positions, only about 100 workers were actually laid off.
“I don’t understand how you’re going to make this up by the end of the fiscal year,” said Tony Peraica, a member of the Cook County Board.
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