County Approves Sales Tax Repeal by 2013

In a 12 to 5 vote, the Cook County Board of Commissioners voted Friday to repeal the remaining half of the controversial sales tax increase, enacted under former president Todd Stroger.

The vote bodes well for Toni Preckwinkle, who pledged to roll back the tax as she campaigned for the board’s presidency.

"We made a commitment on the campaign trail that this was what we were going to do, and I wanted to be sure that all the people of Cook County understood that we were going to meet our campaign promises, and it seemed to make sense to do it as part of our budget to fulfill that commitment," Preckwinkle said after the vote.

Commissioners voted to reduce the sales tax by a quarter-cent on the dollar by 2012 and another quarter-cent on the dollar by 2013.

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