Politics & Government

Preckwinkle Attending Palatine Council Meeting Tonight

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle is attending the Palatine Village Council meeting 7 p.m.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle will attend the Palatine Village board meeting tonight at 7 p.m.

"We are hoping that this is the first of many opportunities to have President Preckwinkle out to engage the residents here in the village of Palatine," Palatine Mayor Jim Schwantz said.

The meeting will be the village council chambers at 200 E. Wood St. Schwantz said that Preckwinkle would discuss county issues and answer some questions from the village council.

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"She's definitely very welcome here and we are excited about having her come out," Schwantz said.

One topic that will likely come up is the extent of county services Palatine receives. Palatine District 5 Council member Jack Wagner previously has said that the village sends $19 million to $20 million a year to the county and he'd like to have a better idea of how that money is spent.

Find out what's happening in Palatinewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The question of county services for the village became a bigger issue after the Cook County Board approved a 1 percent sales tax increase in 2008. At the time Wagner said that the village and other northwest suburban communities in Cook County should explore forming their own county.

Todd Stroger was Cook County board president at the time of the increase. Stroger was scheduled to attend a meeting in Palatine, but the meeting fell through. Instead Stroger held a townhall meeting at Harper College.

Stroger was defeated by Preckwinkle in the Democratic primary in February 2010.

In 2010, the Cook County board rolled back half of the sales tax increase. This year, under Preckwinkle's leadership, the board voted to rollback the rest of the increase  – .25 percent in 2012 and .25 percent in 2013.


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