* The sales tax haven scam is a very big deal. I’ve been covering the issue for months. And now it appears that two very large airlines are also in on it…
The two biggest airlines at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport route their jet fuel purchases through an outlying Illinois town, shaving millions of dollars off their tax bills but raising the hackles of Chicago officials.
The airlines’ tax break agreements with Sycamore, which have flown under the radar for years, have allowed United and American subsidiaries each to trim as much as $12 million to $14 million off their annual tax bills in recent years, documents show.
By routing big purchases through a lower-tax enclave, the airlines are taking advantage of Illinois’ unusual tax rules to avoid tax rates that are as high as 9.75 percent in Chicago. […]
United Aviation Fuel Corp. opened a small office in Sycamore after negotiating a sales-tax rebate agreement with the city in 2001, which was updated in 2003. American Aviation Supply LLC negotiated a pact in 2004, opening an office in a city-owned building the next year. Each operation employs only one or two people, city officials said. [Emphasis added]
* According to the RTA’s top lobbyist, Sears is also participating…
Matyas said his agency knows of 33 companies getting sales tax rebates from Kankakee and eight from Channahon. He said Sears Holdings Corp. is among the companies involved.
Sears gets all those state and local subsidies and then avoids paying regional sales taxes? Great. Just freaking great.
* However, as I told you yesterday, the suits filed by Chicago and the RTA against Kankakee - and the resulting publicity in the Chicago media - appear to be flawed. Kankakee has cut deals with a large number of out of state companies to be their Illinois sales tax nexus, which is why those dollar amounts claimed for the city are so large. Kankakee Mayor Nina Epstein responded via press release…
“There seems to be a great deal of misunderstanding with what we are doing here in Kankakee - a vast majority of these businesses are located outside of Cook County and Illinois, and in fact, we are actually bringing in revenue to Illinois.”
* Meanwhile, it’s absolutely baffling to me that WBEZ would allow these claims by Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels to stand without comment…
Daniels insists he isn’t trying to start a border war with Illinois and doesn’t take issue with it for raising its corporate income tax.
“It’s not for me to give advice to anybody else. Every state has to make its own decisions and I respect that,” Daniels said. “I never say anything negative about anywhere else…”
* He never says anything negative about anywhere else? You could’ve fooled me…
The burgeoning fiscal crises in state and local governments took a turn toward fiction Tuesday, with Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels comparing Illinois’ problems to an episode of “The Simpsons.”
“You guys are nothing if not entertaining over there,” he said with a laugh on the Don and Roma show on WLS-AM. “It’s like living next door to the Simpsons — the dysfunctional family down the block.”
* And then there’s the Illinoyed website and ad campaign run by Daniels’ adminstration…
* And the accompanying earned media hit by his commerce secretary…
“The new marketing slogan for Illinois must be: ‘Come for the higher taxes, stay for the corruption,’” said Indiana Commerce Secretary E. Mitchell Roob.
* The AP quoted Roob yesterday dissing us again…
Illinois Chamber of Commerce President Doug Whitley has been a harsh critic of the income tax increase, but he said regional cooperation makes far more sense than the scrambling states are doing now to lure jobs from each other. It’s an argument many economists make, too, saying that working to draw companies from one location to another doesn’t create new jobs.
“The reality is, our economies are very much intertwined; when a plant is built in Indiana there’s a very good likelihood that they’re getting products and they’re getting components from Illinois,” Whitley said. “It is in Illinois’ interests to have a better relationship with our neighboring states.”
Indiana Secretary of Commerce Mitch Roob, though, said his state sees no benefit in trying to work with its higher-tax neighbor.
“We’ve got to differentiate ourselves nationally and internationally from Illinois,” he said. “As long as Illinois is not a competitive location from a tax standpoint, there’s no way we can market with them.”
And, of course, there was this…
Daniels invited the company executives to a mock citizenship naturalization ceremony Tuesday to welcome them to the state.
But, hey, maybe if Mayor Rahm Emanuel threatened to site the Chicago casino in Gary, then Gov. Pat Quinn might finally get off the dime on the gaming bill.
* If suburban voters weren’t already angry enough about the income tax hike, the ruling Democratic Party ought to prepare itself for another hurricane of rage…
Illinois tollway leaders signaled they’ll vote on proposed toll hikes this week as a series of tempestuous public hearings concluded Tuesday.
“At this point, we’ve had nearly 1,400 people attend the hearings, and based on the comments we’ve received, about 85 percent have expressed support for the plan,” tollway Chairman Paula Wolff said in an email. […]
Tuesday’s hearings were in Schaumburg, Buffalo Grove and Montgomery. Construction unions and professional engineering associations were strongly represented at the Schaumburg hearing, with members speaking passionately in favor of the jobs that would be created by the project.
Wolff is dreaming if she thinks this price hike will be beloved.
* Related…
* Power out to several Loop buildings after second ComEd ‘issue‘
* Competitive era begins in downstate electricity market
* Illinois granted $5.1M for insurance exchange
* City biz leaders back Emanuel’s call for casino
* Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates’ investment firm now owns nearly 6 percent of equipment maker Deere & Co.’s stock.
* Foreclosures keeping cleanup companies busy
* AIG launches search as it mulls downtown move
* Art Institute names insider Douglas Druick as president
* Head of Sears’ Kenmore, Craftsman brands resigning
- Henry Kissinger - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 11:52 am:
Daniels & Roob can quit their campaign now… haven’t they seen last month’s employment #’s for IL??? We’re hemorrhaging jobs.
- JoePeoria - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 11:52 am:
Sorry Rich, but I don’t consider Channahon or Kanakakee “Downstate”.
Here’s my test. Ask people, “What part of Illinois are you from?”. If they don’t say “Chicago” or “the Chicago area”, then they are from (what Chicago people call) “Downstate”.
If you really live “Downstate” , you never use that term. You probably say that you’re from Central Illinois, or Southern Illinois, or Rockford, or the Quad Cities, etc.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 11:53 am:
JoePeoria, I was born in K3. It’s Downstate. Trust me.
- OneMan - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 11:54 am:
That’s why you are JoePeoria…
Downstate is any area that you reach by passing by more than one or two farms. Kanakakee is downstate to a Chicagoan.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 11:56 am:
Also, JoePeoria, this is the second time you’ve brought up this red herring instead of actually focusing on the issue. I’m not all that interested in your tangential semantic debates. Stick to the topic at hand, please. Final warning.
- JoePeoria - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 11:56 am:
I do applaud Channahon, Kankakee, and Sycamore for getting one over on Chicago.
When was the last time Small Town Illinois did that?
Also, don’t forget Daley and Chicago’s political manipulations to include O’Hare property inside the Chicago City Limits.
- Cincinnatus - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 12:01 pm:
Rich said,
“The sales tax haven scam is a very big deal.”
It may be an untended consequence, a mistake, or an intentional sop to a special interest, but we’re talking a legal, legitimate, tax loophole here. A scam is more like whatever the Sandoval mess is on another CapFax thread.
Should the loophole be plug by law? Probably. Is the tax law in Illinois filled with such loopholes? Indeedee do. The interesting question now is how lawmakers and the Governor address the issue in the upcoming GA session. Will they let it stand, plug the loophole, or look at a comprehensive reform of all of our tax laws from top to bottom? Aye, there’s the rub.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 12:03 pm:
===we’re talking a legal, legitimate, tax loophole here===
Its legality is very debatable and its legitimacy is seriously in doubt, considering how these sham offices operate.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 12:06 pm:
Also, Cincinnatus, DuPage County Chairman Cronin initially supported the push to formally legalize these little one-person sales tax “offices.” Then he discovered that DuPage was losing out as well. He turned hard against the bill. This is not just about Chicago and Cook.
- Wumpus - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 12:08 pm:
I agree with Joe, about times the little guys do what the big guys have been doing for years. Careful, Kankakee may be annexed by Delaware.
- lincolnlover - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 12:13 pm:
This “scam” isn’t anything new. I worked at Xerox in the late 70’s/early 80’s. The Loop branch routinely sent their contracts to the Springfield branch for signing to avoid Cook County and Chicago taxes. There was also a big reason many large companies incorporated in Deleware, rather than the state they actually operated out of. Chicagoans can call it whatever they want, but its still legal.
- Cincinnatus - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 12:22 pm:
Rich,
The very fact that Cronin was both for and against the loophole illustrates the point I was making, that the loophole is legal. I know of one former owner of the largest independent Apple retailer in Illinois who took advantage of this loophole himself. The upcoming litigation will indeed be interesting, but I also think that now that the issue has hit the fan, we will be seeing the tax break eliminated in the near future. I do not think the litigation will result in any back taxes being paid, as a guess.
- wordslinger - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 12:28 pm:
Roob is king of the rubes.
- Cook County Commoner - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 12:38 pm:
Illinois has around 7000 separate government units, which leads the nearest state contender by over 1000. I’ll guess that the highest concentration of this record breaking number is in northeast Illinois. A significant portion of the taxes at issue goes to wages, of which a significant portion ends up in government employee union coffers. A good portion of this is then redirected to political war chests. I suspect that these sales tax revenues work their way around to numerous government entities other than the originating taxing body. So, in my view, this has nothing to with legality, loopholes or fairness. It’s all about cash flow to the predominant political party in north east Illinois.
And oddly missing in this great debate is the regressive nature of sales taxes, especially on the poor. In light of the economy’s fragile condition, exposing any part of it, especially in Illinois, to higher sales taxes is merely another example of the callous, voracious appetite of Illinois government.
No one seems to care that sales taxes are the most regressive imposts by government, hitting the poor harder than anyone. Furthermore, they are damaging in a frail economy by throwing a damper on consumer spending in general.
- Six Degrees of Separation - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 12:46 pm:
With somewhere around 85% of its customes using I-Pass, chances are most tollway customers won’t know there has been a toll hike until a few months later, if ever.
- CLJ - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 12:54 pm:
The CTA has no problem with the scheme
http://vcsearch.transitchicago.com/vendorDetail.php?VENDOR_ID=28055
- Small Town Liberal - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 1:08 pm:
- The very fact that Cronin was both for and against the loophole illustrates the point I was making, that the loophole is legal. -
Hardly. All that illustrates is that Cronin wanted to take advantage of it until he found out he was being taken advantage of more.
Setting up a fake office and claiming that it’s where you do all of your buying is not an undisputed legal maneuver. It’s also not something to pat a business person on the back for, any more than you’d pat someone on the back for finding a wallet full of money on the street and making no effort to find the owner.
- Quinn T. Sential - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 1:08 pm:
I would like PeaPod to set up an internet hub and call center sales office in Sycamore, while keeping the distribution centers which allow for fresh produce a little closer to home. That way I could shave a few percentage points off of the annual grocery bill.
I won’t save as much as United and American in real dollars, but the daily bread is the jet fuel for the QTS Clan, and on a percentage that could be substantial and might help to fund some tuition dollars, since apparently I not only have to pay for my kids college education, but for Marty Sandoval’s Sorrority House Girls as well.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 1:14 pm:
===That way I could shave a few percentage points off of the annual grocery bill.===
This sales tax scam is about business to business purchases, not consumer purchases.
- Plutocrat03 - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 1:14 pm:
Another law with unintended consequences.
The question is whether you pllay whack a mole and eliminate loophole one by one, or do you enact comprehensive tax reform?
- dupage dan - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 1:16 pm:
How many times have we been informed here that Chicago is the major economic engine in this state? How many times have we been informed that much more $ flows from Chicago to “downstate” than the other way around?
I wonder how much these schemes harm Chicago/Illinois?
It sounds like this has been going on for many years in many parts of the state. I wonder whose ox is being gored here/now?
- Quinn T. Sential - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 1:29 pm:
{This sales tax scam is about business to business purchases, not consumer purchases.}
Do you know how many “shell” corporations exist in Illinois? Probably a great deal more than the “shell” bills created in the legislature; and that’s saying a lot, LOL!
Who consumes that which is purchased is not something likley to be the subject of an audit on such a microscopic scale.
If PeaPod would coorperate on their end, I’ll bet their would be legions of crafty Cook County family “corporations” that would line up for the opportunity to thumb their noses at the City and County sales taxes that have been imposed upon them.
- Henry Kissinger - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 1:34 pm:
Was just rummaging around the Tollway site. Documents shows it cost them $702.3 million to implement “open-road tolling” / I-Pass.
ISTHA understandably incurred administrative, labor and software costs while making the transition, but that still seems high. Very high.
- Ghost of John Brown - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 1:34 pm:
This was an issue for St. Charles and Siegle’s lumber about 7-8 years ago. Siegle’s was claiming sales out of another town which had a lower sales tax. Anyone know how that ended up? Seems like the exact same situation. The result of the Siegle’s case might portend the result of this one.
- Its Just Me - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 2:03 pm:
Why is the RTA’ lobbyist talking about a lawsuit? Why not the lawyer, a spokesperson, or even the RTA chairman? Is Jordan jealous of seeing his father-in-law’s name I’m the news all the time and he wants to see his name in the lights too?
- anon - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 2:06 pm:
It will be interesting what the solution is. This seems like it is a fact intensive issue. Meaning one company may have a sham office, but another has a office with 5 or 10 employees, and many others that are in between. It would be costly to have the department send auditors to all these places. (Or I guess they can just have one auditor be based out of Kankakee.)
Maybe going to what most states use, where the good is delivered is the sales tax that applies. You can still game the system by taking delivery in Kankakee, but then you have to haul the good up to Chicago. If its still worth it, fine, you beat the system.
Either way, there will be lots of winners and losers…
- Its Just Me - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 2:10 pm:
CLJ - The CTA doesn’t pay sales tax. It is a unit of government and is tax exempt. The CTA hedges its fuel and goes with the lowest bidder.
- Cincinnatus - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 2:18 pm:
From ilga.gov
“A sales tax is a levy placed on a good or service when it is purchased from a company that has a physical presence (or “nexus”) in the same state as the consumer. When a consumer buys a good or service from a retailer that is outside of his or her state, they pay a use tax.”
No provisions have been made to talk about crossing any boundaries other than the state line. While the intent may well be to not allow the practice we are discussing, there is no provision in law to prohibit it. So the issue will come down to a “fake” office. I can find no prohibitions on where a company can locate either its home or satellite offices. If they are duly registered to do business in the state, and are paying all of their local and state taxes, this is a legal loophole.
If ya don’t like it, change the law.
- downstate hack - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 2:21 pm:
The tollway system in Illinois is a relative bargain. A toll increase for improving the system is justified, but the leadership needs to make sure the Agency is running as efficiently as possible. This is not easy nor will it be easy to overcome past history of bureaucratic excesses.
- Arthur Andersen - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 2:25 pm:
word, Roob has polished up his game a bit since he worked for the IL DCCA in the late 80’s. I’ll give him that much. He was just Mitch back then.
“E. Mitchell” sounds so more worldly.
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 2:29 pm:
First, “scam” seems an inappropriate word used in a blog that seems pride itself on objectivity. That surprised me. I would have thought that “loophole” would have been the operative word. Second, in the private sector, avoiding paying taxes is an operational part of business. Squeezing every penny out of the public is the government m.o. unless of course you can call TIF districts a “scam” or special tax breaks to Motorola a “scam.”
- George Washington - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 2:35 pm:
The tollway spent weeks before the hearings started calling contractors, unions, suppliers and telling them they better send people to these meetings, and write letters of support. Some of these people have attended numerous meetings.
- Tim - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 2:38 pm:
===ISTHA understandably incurred administrative, labor and software costs while making the transition, but that still seems high. Very high.===
The $700M figure undoubtedly includes the significant construction costs incurred to convert all those old barrier plazas to free-flowing traffic lanes with smaller barriers on the side for cash users. In the case of I-88, it meant bulldozing three plazas entirely (Dixon, DeKalb, York Road eastbound) and building new ones in new locations. $700M does not sound outrageous to me.
- Tommydanger - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 2:54 pm:
Just another example of how this state can be bent into pretzel shapes over tax receipts. Various municipalities continue to shower sales tax rebates and other taxpayer subsidized incentives in an attempt to woo the car dealership or outlet center to locate within their boundaries all because they reap the benefit of the local sales tax. Often times businesses locate not where they necessarily would choose to locate but rather in the community that’s ready to give them the most money. If sales tax dollars were returned on a per capita basis regardless of where the sale took place within the state, like MFT and income tax receipts, then cities would have no incentive to bribe businesses to come to town and would not have to extend utilities and make road improvements for the new developments at the taxpayer’s expense. Rather the business would have to make those improvements at their own expense and the market for their products would dictate where they chose to locate. The casinos are another boondoggle, who died and said that Elgin, Aurora, Joliet should be so blessed with the revenues from gaming operations? If you live in the next County over, I guess you’re on your own. Its no wonder the Sycamores of the state are trying to do what they can to make ends meet. Its no worse or better that what every other community is trying to do in this state to operate under the taxing rules that encourage businesses to extort tax incentives and rebates from communities with our leaders scared to say no lest the business go down the road or the next state.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 3:02 pm:
===First, “scam” seems an inappropriate word used in a blog that seems pride itself on objectivity. That surprised me.===
Meh.
A scam by any other name…
- siriusly - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 3:26 pm:
Daniels (and for that matter Quinn’s) inter-state partisan squabbles are not helping our region’s economy. They aren’t helping us educate our people at the same advancing rate that the Indians or Chinese are. They aren’t helping us grow or build or do anything productive.
Fighting over the same piece of the pie with each other. It reminds me a little bit of Lord of the Flies.
The Governors of the Midwestern states are playing small and the world is passing us by. I could care less if the drop forge company moves, good luck to them. But by making this the sole focus of the entire economic development policy of the Midwest, we’re not paying attention to the real issues here. We need to invest in educating ourselves and growing new jobs. Fighting over the few old jobs is yesterdays beans.
- Quinn T. Sential - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 3:37 pm:
{“A sales tax is a levy placed on a good or service when it is purchased from a company that has a physical presence (or “nexus”) in the same state as the consumer. When a consumer buys a good or service from a retailer that is outside of his or her state, they pay a use tax.”}
Unless I am missing something here (always a good possibility) this also does not appear to differentiate between commercial consumers and personal consumers with respect to the application of the sales tax.
- dupage dan - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 4:18 pm:
Given the high taxes charged in Cook Cty for fuel it is understandable why these businesses looked for a go around. Just travel from Cook Cty westward into DuPage Cty and you can see the drop in fuel prices for us jamokes. Or, go from Cook Cty to Indiana. Very regressive for low income folks in Cook Cty to have to pay such high taxes.
I don’t condone the scam. I am surprised that no one noticed it before - it apparently has been going on for a long time in some cases. The Trib broke down some of the amounts involved. It seems that Sycamore got only a fraction of the taxes collected with the balance being returned to the company, effectively meaning the business paid little tax at all. Since we know that businesses will typically pass on tax costs in the form of higher rates to the consumers it seems that the air carriers were paying little in fuel costs while rolling thoses “costs” into the airfare. Whatta State we got here!
- Jim Ridings - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 4:19 pm:
I can’t help but think that so much of the outrage here is from feelings that Roobs, I mean rubes, from downstate Kankakee and from Indiana are putting one over on the high and mighty Chicago. And they are getting away with it. And they are getting away with money Chicago thinks should be in its greedy, greasy paws.
- Voice of Experience - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 4:19 pm:
Quinn T., actually you are correct. Businesses pay a sales or use tax on goods they are going to consume (just like you or me). They don’t pay a tax on goods that they are reselling (at least not in Illinois, but give it time). That’s because the tax is collected on the final sale and it would be double taxation.
So your PeaPod example is not too far off, except that the tax is owed based on where the product is consumed. So, even if you bought your groceries in Sycamore, you technically owe the tax in the community where you are consuming them. (To make it easier, the state assumes you are consuming them where you live). Of course, nobody tracks small purchases, and the assumption is that it ends up being a wash.
Actually, I’m a little confused by what Rich terms a “scam” because it seems as though the companies buying the goods should have to pay a sales tax based on where they are located, not where they bought the services. I assume the problem comes in because it’s virtually impposible for the Revenue Department to track that information, so they just assume that most products are consumed (or used) at the location where they are purchased.
Except, of course, for big-ticket consumer items like cars, where they can determine the location because it has to be titled and licensed.
Although, it sure seems like it would be pretty easy for the Revenue Department to demonstrate that millions of gallons of jet fuel aren’t being consumed in Sycamore.
Bottom line to me though is this: the higher the tax rate, the more incentive to figure out how to avoid paying taxes. The simple solution is to keep taxes low enough that it isn’t worthwhile to engage in complex tax avoidance manuevers (or “scams” if you want to use a loaded word).
I’m always amused when governments raise taxes beyond what the rest of the market is charging and then are “shocked” that either individuals or businesses try to avoid paying those taxes.
- dupage dan - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 4:20 pm:
I should have said that the air carriers were paying little in fuel taxes, not fuel costs.
- JustMe - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 4:55 pm:
Voice — this is about local taxes, which are based on where you buy the goods, not where you consume them. So locating your new Wal-Mart on the right side of the county line or city limits can legitimately save a lot of tax. The real scams involve sellers that are doing a lot of their business on the wrong side of the line, and just how much they have to do on the right side of the line to claim that the sale was made on the right side.
- Quinn T. Sential - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 5:30 pm:
{So your PeaPod example is not too far off, except that the tax is owed based on where the product is consumed.}
While I have not researched it specifically myself, based on the prior statute excerpted:
{“A sales tax is a levy placed on a good or service when it is purchased from a company that has a physical presence (or “nexus”) in the same state as the consumer. When a consumer buys a good or service from a retailer that is outside of his or her state, they pay a use tax.”}
Where do you get that the sales tax is owed based on where the product is consumed? It appears from the statute cited above that the boundary lines are predicated based on being within the state rather than within a political sub-division of a state.
The local sales tax is applicable based on point of purchase, rather than point of consumption. If PeaPod takes my credit card information in Sycamore, but directs there warehouse in Cook County to deliver the goods, it appears as though the sale is taking place in DeKalb County rather than Cook.
If a person lives in the south side of Orland Park or in Tinley Park in Cook County, but crosses I-80 and buys their groceries in Mokena in Will County, then which local sales tax is applicable; Cook, or Lake?
It looks to me like PeaPod and non border community Cook County residents are missing the boat on a prime opportunity for effective tax management on one of the largest cost of living items in their annual household budgets.
- wishbone - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 6:48 pm:
“It’s like living next door to the Simpsons — the dysfunctional family down the block.”
That pretty much says it all. Illinois state and local government needs to be overhauled from top to bottom e.g.: the running joke that is township government. Only one example of 6994 local units of government in the state. Streamlining and simplification of government would reduce costs and increase accountability.
- DRB - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 6:59 pm:
Seems to me that Rahm should find a way to compete. The losing of revenue means it’s time to find a better mousetrap. Instead of running down your competition, find a way to beat them.
- x ace - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 7:02 pm:
“Scam” is the right word. Don’t matter if the scamees are in Illinois or not. It is a slippery way of operating.
Ironically, the leaders and newspapers in the Kankakee area are whining and crying because Lewis College is trying to lure the Chicago Bears training camp to their campus in the Chicago metro area. If Kankakee gains it’s OK , if Kankakee might lose the camp , then it’s time to whine.
Stop the Tax Scam.
- yinn - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 7:56 pm:
This is an unfortunate time to be picking on “downstate” municipalities. Sycamore has been dealing quite well in the down-turned economy but, in a city of about 15,000, $400,000 in revenue per year is quite significant.
This was also a significant gain for the county — its sales tax take doubled from $1 million to $2 million at that time (2003 or ‘04).
The downside came out when the county planned a referendum to ask the taxpayers for a sales tax hike for badly needed renovations to the county jail; the airlines said they needed to be exempt from the hike, or they would leave.
- yinn - Wednesday, Aug 24, 11 @ 8:03 pm:
Oops, I’m sorry, the county tax take doubled from $2 million to $4 million, NOT $1 million to $2 million. http://www.citybarbs.com/?p=44