Preckwinkle Talks Taxes, Secession in Palatine

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle acknowledged some of the frustration the northwest suburbs felt toward her predecessor, and she had a simple message: Give good governance a chance.

Preckwinkle attended the Palatine Village Board meeting Monday, taking questions from residents and council members. Among the questions was whether the northwest suburbs should explore separating from Cook County.

"I'm just wondering if it wouldn't be reasonable for both sides, Cook County and the municipalities, to at least explore the issue to see if it would be mutually beneficial for us to form our own county," District 5 Council member Jack Wagner said. "Have you given any thought to that?"

"Yes. I think it's a bad idea," Preckwinkle said, drawing laughter from the packed audience.

Preckwinkle later expanded on her answer. She said that during her campaign, some individuals raised the option of a separate governance for the Cook County Forest Preserve.

"Look, let's try good governance before you decide that what you need is an entirely independent body and to elect more people," Preckwinkle said. "We live in the state that has the most elected officials and separate units of government–of any state in the country—and that is extraordinarily expensive."

The issue of secession became a hot topic in 2008 when the Cook County board approved a 1 percent increase in the sales tax increase. Palatine officials asked then-Cook County Board President Todd Stroger to attend a village board meeting. A meeting was set and then fell through.

In 2009, an advisory referendum had 73 percent of Palatine Township residents supporting the idea of secession. In 2010, the Cook County board rolled back half of the sales tax increase. Stroger was defeated by Preckwinkle in the Democratic primary last year and under her leadership, the board voted to rollback the rest of the increase–.25 percent in 2012 and .25 percent in 2013.

Regardless of the sales tax rollback, some issues have remained. Several questions to Preckwinkle focused on the extent of county services Palatine receives for its tax dollars.

District 2 Council member Scott Lamerand and District 1 Council member Aaron Del Mar each asked about the amount of services Palatine receives. Del Mar said Palatine sends an estimated $15 million to $20 million to Cook County and receives back about $4 million to $5 million in services.

Preckwinkle said that two-thirds of the county's tax revenue is spent on health care and criminal justice. Preckwinkle said there is a Cook County health clinic located in Palatine that receives 11,000 patient visits a year.

"And in the case of the forest preserves, they are almost entirely within the suburbs," Preckwinkle said. "Very little of our forest preserve land is in the city of Chicago."

Palatine Mayor Jim Schwantz said Preckwinkle's appearance was a show of good faith and that there were several issues the village and county could work together on.

One issue mentioned at the meeting is a possible expansion of Quentin Road between Lake-Cook Road and Dundee Road.

"I'm looking forward to seeing exactly the steps that are going to be taken," Schwantz said.