DeKalb Mayor Greg Sparrow blasted Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Edgar Wednesday for flip-flopping on a state income tax issue.

Sparrow said Edgar switched his stand on the issue of whether cities will be allowed to keep a portion of a temporary surcharge on Illinois income tax that runs until July 1991.

DeKalb gets about $1 million yearly from the $700 million generated from the tax.

Edgar supported making the temporary tax permanent when he spoke at the Illinois Municipal League’s annual conference last September, Sparrow said.

Two months later, Edgar said he favored full funding of schools and counties from the temporary tax when addressing a meeting of mayors and city managers.

Edgar said that Wednesday money would not always be available to cities and counties.

“How can you trust the guy?” Sparrow asked. “The only way a politician can gain credibility is if he does what he says he’ll do.”