By Bill Cameron, WLS-AM News
(CHICAGO) Now that the penny per ounce county pop tax is scheduled to go away Dec 1st, Bill Cameron says county commissioners now have to find $200M to replace it.
Bridget Gainer, one of the anti-pop tax commissioners who actually dives into budget details, has been working on filling the $200M hole.
“I think it’s a variety of things. Some of it is cuts. Some of it is new revenue,” says Gainer, “In the new revenue it’s about filing for new assessments. There’s looking at the office supply fund. Some of it is looking at the jail and the juvenile detention center. Both populations have dropped significantly, more than 25% in both places. Institutionalize those changes with a drop in personnel. A lot of that can be done by attrition and that means not filling some of the vacant positions that exist.”
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle says “of course, there are going to be layoffs.”
@ 2017 WLS-AM News
