Palatine Looking to Secede From County... Still
By Chuck Sudo in News on Nov 29, 2010 3:00PM
Remember last year when Palatine residents, fed up with the antics of Todd Stroger and the County Board, supported a nonbinding resolution to secede from Cook County?
Well, looks like a few in Palatine haven't and they're still looking to do it. Palatine Councilman Jack Wagner says the village will restart efforts to secede from the county. Wagner said that he and fellow councilman Scott Lamerand have discussed the matter with county commissioners.
“We’ve been holding off on doing this until the election was over,” Wagner said. “But now … we have the intentions of moving forward to see what we can do.”
Wagner said that, ideally, he wouldn't want to secede from Cook County, but favors research to see if it can be done. In a June 2008 meeting with Palatine officials who favored secession, outgoing Board President Todd Stroger didn't endear himself with them by stating Palatine and other northwestern suburbs receive more county services than they pay for.
Secession would face a litany of legal and logistic hurdles, and Palatine could find out very quickly that the sale tax (and anti-Stroger) that's fueling the current talk could pale in comparison to any tax hikes necessary for Palatine to enjoy the county services they currently take for granted.