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A clearly frustrated Cook County Board President Todd Stroger failed Monday to cobble together the votes needed for a higher sales tax.

Stroger called commissioners who shot it down "part-time workers" who don't appreciate the gravity of the situation and didn't do the job that "should've been done." He's now headed back to the drawing board to fill a roughly $307 million hole in the county's $3 billion budget.

Next up could be a combination of taxes ---possibly hiking utility or phone bills.

Stroger also could revisit a sales tax hike smaller than the proposal on the table Mon-day that would have raised the county portion of the sales tax from 0.75 percent to 2.75 percent.

Rather than see the proposed sales tax increase shot down, Commissioner Joan Murphy (D-Crestwood) moved for it to be deferred until Oct. 16, allowing time for what Commissioner Forrest Claypool (D-Chicago) called "behind-the-scenes, closed-door arm-twisting."

Stroger said he will engage in "the art of compromise."

There appear to be eight votes for and eight against boosting the sales tax. Commissioner Larry Suffredin (D-Evanston) said his legal contracts with the Illinois Restaurant Association present a conflict of interest, so he would have to vote "present." That could eventually present a scenario allowing Stroger to cast a tie-breaking vote.

Some commissioners said they can't agree to higher taxes until Stroger presents a budget for them to review, while others pointed to a study by the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability that concluded the county must raise taxes to finance its operations.

Chicago Sun-Times