You may have seen the commercial. It’s shot in the crudely effective style of ads for bankruptcy lawyers and credit counseling services: a lone spokeswoman locks her gaze on the camera and, while print scrolls across the bottom of the screen, encourages every paranoid thought you might have had about participating in the bold new world of E-commerce. She speaks of hackers who’ve broken into computer files at the FBI and the Pentagon and asks if your privacy is destined to be invaded next. “Over half a billion dollars is lost in Internet sales fraud each year,” she intones, as the accompanying scroll credits the statistic to the U.S. Secret Service.
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
So far most Internet sales are not taxed; on-line shoppers pay taxes only if they live in a state where the retailer has a physical presence. If Chicagoans make a purchase on-line from the Eddie Bauer Web site, they’ll wind up paying sales tax because Eddie Bauer has stores here. But if they buy from Priceline, which has no stores in the state, they’ll pay no taxes.
However low-tech his style, Blase, backed by local businesses, is ready to take on the high-tech industry. “When a village like Niles has a $15 million annual budget but only a fraction of that comes from property taxes, it means we are dependent on the revenue brought in by our stores and malls,” he says. “People might marvel at the technology of Internet shopping now. But if it continues to grow it’ll hurt our stores’ sales, and eventually people will wake up and wonder why their city services have had to undergo cuts. Eventually it will affect daily life.”
According to Blase, most of the leaders applauded his plan. “I support the campaign wholeheartedly,” says Skokie mayor George Van Dusen. “It’s a question of equity, among other things. The Main Street businesses are at a disadvantage. I did support the original moratorium [on Internet sales taxes]. They were start-up companies and needed time to get the whole thing going. But they’ve had that time.” Schaumburg’s mayor, Al Larson, also supports the campaign. “Clicks and bricks should get the same treatment,” he says.
