An excerpt from an editorial that appeared in the Daily Herald.com, Wednesday, November 16th:
If all goes as it should, something astonishing in the annals of Cook County government will happen this Friday. For the second year in a row, the county budget will decline, the county board president will keep a campaign promise and the entire process will move forward on schedule.
That the final product will look somewhat different from the budget proposals county board President Toni Preckwinkle rolled out in late October is something of a given, but even that is a sign of the important changes taking place. Preckwinkle is pressing some painful measures on all interests in the county, but her willingness to at least listen to the people affected and their recognition of their responsibility to share in the sacrifices are combining to create a new attitude toward spending….
I don’t think that your fulfilling the campaign promise of reducing a mere 1 1/2 cent sales tax in this era of greater need for health systems and public safety is a good idea. I personally believe that we are merely mimicing the City of Chicago. The city cuts staff while tring to increase revenue by increasing fees and fines. Yet who does the burden for these changes fall on , the very people that are also being asked to serve the city and county by earning less. This county and the city have millions of citizens and welcome millions of tourist per year, but the choice to only impact the employees who provide the services and aide the common good are expected to carry the burden on their backs. I know that you have a budget shortfall and that with unemployment minimzing potential income for many and the loss of these individuals homes do to foreclosure further reduces the tax base and subsequently the revenue. So I guess that laying off people so that they become unable to pay their share makes a lot of sense to someone. I just don’t understand who that is!
There are 60-70 amendments that are going to be voted on tomorrow but have not been posted on this website. How can we tell our reps what to support ot not support if we don’t know what any of them are? Why all the secrecy? Can you put the vote over until nect week so at least the publc can view them?
Bud,
The amendments are up now. The problem was more with the time it took to compile, vet, process and post them. We apologize for the delay. http://blog.cookcountyil.gov/budget/2012-budget-amendments/