Dear Chicago -
First off, thank you for being so great lately with the weather and the CTA. Seriously, a girl cannot complain. I did have awesome bus service and timing this weekend with my bloggy friends in town so thank you for cutting me a break. I'm not sure if you're the person to really be talking to about this, but just wanted to put it out there.
Moving on to the real purpose of this e-mail, I have again quite a bee in bonnet about something that I saw on the news last night - the official one percent increase in the Cook County sales tax, bringing it to 10.25 percent. 10.25 percent!!! Are you f*cking kidding me? That wasn't supposed to happen until November when you can rob the tourists who come here for their holiday shopping and feel so much cooler that their gift from the Disney Store came from Chicago. What the h*ll??
And I'm even more upset because you're doing this to balance our city's budget, which we can never seem to have under control anyhow and to fund transit, which is archaic at best and also never seems to have enough funding. I love living here but you're making it really difficult for me. There are even rumors that the sales tax might have to be increased again too, seriously? Chicago wants to host the 2016 Olympics and we can't even balance our state budget or fully fund transit, yeah that's making us look real good.
Now I know people are going to tell me to "suck it up" and just deal with it and I will. In a month this will be a dead issue and in six months we'll all forget what 9 percent felt like in the pocketbook but it's the psychological response to double digit sales tax when no other city in the nation has that. I am writing this to be forthright with my feelings on this.
So I'm officially putting the county sales tax "on notice." Yes you're right up there with Harry & David and meteorologists. How do you feel about that? Think about it and get back to me.
Burn in h*ll,
Jessica
Note to readers: This might seem harsh and hyper emotional but I had to vent my feelings on this topic. 10.25 percent sales tax is ridiculous and honestly, it makes me *gasp* not want to shop anymore. I'm taking my gift cards home to Wisconsin with me this weekend so I can shop in peace there. So take that Chicago! You have won the war, but I want to win a few battles.
Crook County indeed.
ReplyDelete$100 million to build a museum in Grant Park, but no money to fix potholes.
DALEY NEED MONEY!
ReplyDeleteI am so glad I live in NYC right now... no sales tax is amazing. :)
ReplyDeleteGaaaaah... My upcoming move to Chicagoland is looking bleak.
ReplyDeleteHoly $hit! Here in OH on things like clothes its 7%, WV is 6% so I typically head to the mall in PA where there is none! Sounds like online shopping will be the way to go.
ReplyDeleteThis made me a little bit happy to still be living in Wisconsin. 10.25% really does sound crazy. I had no idea it was that high.
ReplyDeleteWow, that is ridiculous! I think our tax is like 7.5%.
ReplyDeletei would jump for joy for 10.5%!!! our taxes here are 14%!!!! they used to be 15% but last year the gov't gave us a 'break' and took off an entire percent! on some things we only pay the government tax (8% i think)...totally sucks!
ReplyDeleteyikes. all the more reason for us to pinch every penny and move back to arkansas...
ReplyDeletemake the same amount of money and get more for it down there.
That's insane. DC's is pretty close to yours at 10%, but I can't imagine paying either one. Freakin ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteI understand 10.25% is a lot when it used to be 9%, but just to put it into perspective, sales tax in the Netherlands is 19% right now, and it will go up to 20% soon, so it will be the same level throughout the European Union. Even worse, gas prices over here keep increasing because of all the taxes applied to it, and we now pay $2,70 per liter, which is $12,22 per gallon. There's a recession going on here with people not being able to spend enough money anymore, but still they're not planning to lower taxes.
ReplyDeleteI should add though that for groceries the sales tax is only 6%.
ReplyDeleteVAT is creeping up on you, America!
ReplyDeleteOnline it is. Sigh.
Man, that is awful. Can't someone out there cut us a little break? At least you can go shop in WI.
ReplyDeleteUmmmm I am so teed off about this that I can barely bring myself to type this response. What in the hell is going on, Chicago? Your gas is pretty much (almost) the highest in the nation, and now this sales tax nonsense? What are you trying to do to us?!??!
ReplyDeleteI had this same, irate reaction. Then my brother - aka my calming influence - said, "Sister, it is an investment in our society. You don't think supporting our communities is worthwhile?"
ReplyDeleteDamn him. I don't have a retort that doesn't make me sound greedy and whiny.
WAIT A MINUTE... I am moving to Evanston in T-30 days. Is this just Chicago proper or will I be subject to this ridiculous tax, too?!
ReplyDeleteThis just hurts. I thought 9% was bad. Well, it was. 10.25% is ridiculous and very upsetting. Now we have the highest gas in the nation as well as tax. It's things like this that really make me hate the city I live in. And I don't want to hate it!
ReplyDeleteJust have to add a correction -- this sales tax has been implemented by Cook County -- NOT the City of Chicago. You have referenced that the City of Chicago cannot balance their budget -- but this increase does not increase revenues for the City and City services, but for the County.
ReplyDeleteElected officials get away with these things because Americans don't know the difference between things like City and County Government.
Also, Rachel responds to your blog and the recent county tax increase with --
ReplyDelete"Daley Need Money."
Well, the head of the County is actually Stroger -- not the Mayor. There is a big difference.
I know how you feel! ANY sales tax in California absolutely SUCKS compared to none in Pennsylvania where I go to school. I want to be back there so I can shop and ONLY pay what the price tag says.
ReplyDeleteyeah, but Daley always needs money, so the statement can still apply.
ReplyDeleteI don't let things like facts get in the way of me trying to be funny....
I completely understand the rant! Sales tax here is almost 10% and I take every chance I can to shop in Oregon, one of the few states with no sales tax.
ReplyDeleteThe cook county sales tax IS ridiculous and you have every right to vent!
ReplyDeleteI also think that anonymous commenters are ridiculous, but that's just me.
Hahaha - quite a bee in bonnet
ReplyDeleteWhat are you - 85???
shut the front door!!! thats nuts.
ReplyDeletemy home town is still at 6.75%. clevelands is a bit more but NOTHING like 10.25%
move to pennsylvania there is no tax at all! wouldn't that be nice right?
You beat me to the blog.. Grrr.. I must say this is up there along with my hatred for the museum in Grant Park and the "bean"
ReplyDelete10.25% is absolutely absurd.
ReplyDeletei am so sorry for you and the entire residents of that county.
Ahh writing bloggy letters always makes me feel so much better!
ReplyDeleteIn Canada we have two sales taxes... federal and provincial (although some provinces get off the hook). Boooo to that.
ReplyDeleteThat is amazingly high. It sure makes me think twice about Chicago as a possible relocation spot.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more. At least fix the CTA with the extra cash? But I suspect that won't happen.
ReplyDelete