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November 1, 2007
Chicago Public Radio
Chicago Public Radio Takes a Closer Look at the Cook County Phone Tax
A lot of the small print on the phone bill is taken up by just taxes.
Some you would expect.
KOLATA: There's a federal tax at 3 percent, a state tax at 7 percent, a municipal tax at 7 percent.
Then there's more specific fees.
KOLATA: Various taxes and fees for 911 service, for state infrastructure maintenance, for local
infrastructure maintenance. There's also telecom relay service and equipment tax.
David Kolata says all that adds up.
He heads the Citizens Utility Board, a group that works to keep gas, electricity and phone costs low.
He says 25 percent of your phone bill is taxes.
And that number may go up.
The Cook County Board is considering a tax of four dollars per month on every phone line.
NORRIS: I have two landlines and three cell phones. Myself, my wife, and my daughter.
Willie Norris needs the two landlines because he runs a construction business out of his home and giving up a cell phone is not an option.
NORRIS: My daughters a teenager. I need to keep in touch with her know where she's at at all times.
Also, I use my cell phone for business purposes you know. I get calls, I make calls, you know
spur of the moment, hey I need more supplies, hey I got to get this, or this guy didn't show
up or whatever. It's very important you know.
If the county does pass the phone tax, Norris will end up paying an extra 20 dollars a month for his five phone lines.
That's two hundred and forty dollars a year.
On top of that, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley is pushing for a monthly dollar 25 increase in the emergency 911 fee.
That means all together, on his 5 phone lines, Norris could end up paying 3 hundred and fifteen
dollars in new taxes next year.
But the fate of the county tax increase is far from decided.
There's no plan to call for a vote on the phone tax.
Right now, Cook County Board President Todd Stroger is pushing a 2 percent sales tax increase.
Commissioner Forest Claypool says he thinks the phone tax is Stroger's "plan B"
CLAYPOOL: I'm reading between the lines and guessing that the Stroger administration is
holding those as back-up taxes in the event they don't get the taxes that they're actually seeking right now.
Even if the phone tax does pass the county board it could still face legal challenges from phone companies.
For Chicago Public Radio, I'm Robert Wildeboer.
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