Go ahead. Make our tax day:
The Cook County Board of Commissioners is considering increasing its sales tax to 11 percent to meet its budgetary needs. A vote was expected Monday, but the board put it off until Oct. 16. If approved, the sales tax would be nearly double Northwest Indiana's 6 percent sales tax. And that could not only mean more shoppers, but also more higher-end stores for the region, local officials say.
Of course, we might be poised to screw it all up. Proposals to deal with our property tax mess have included increasing our 6 percent sales tax to anywhere from 7 percent to 11 percent or higher. The tax is 6 percent in Michigan and Kentucky, 5.5. percent in Ohio. If we go too high, people living near those borders won't think twice about where to buy big-ticket items.
