Kankakee losing revenue; tax-sharing companies pull up stakes

Kankakee Mayor Nina Epstein tells the Chicago Tribune it appears all of the Kankakee tax-sharing deals are in jeopardy. That's a reported $4 million in revenues.

Two companies have cancelled their contracts with Kankakee. This comes after the state of Illinois changed its rules on how sales tax rates are calculated. The city's contracts, most of them anyway, have been with Internet-based firms.

Plans for Kankakee are to cut about 10% of its city budget to make up for the loss in sales tax revenues.

Kankakee COUNTY has also announced cuts of $35 million to its annual budget.

Larger companies had set up shop in Kankakee where the state's sales tax was much cheaper than Chicago. The two companies that ended the Kankakee arrangement were able to work around $4.3 million in local sales tax since 2006 by using Kankakee's lower 6.25% tax.

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