EAST DUNDEE – A gas tax hike in France stirred riots in the streets of Paris over the past several weekends. A similar tax rate hike for Illinoisans provoked a press conference by State Reps. Allen Skillicorn (R-East Dundee) and Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton) Tuesday in downtown Chicago. Wearing yellow jackets like those worn by French protesters, the two spoke out against the idea of pushing Illinois to the highest motor fuel tax in the U.S.
“The worst-kept secret in Springfield is a rumored massive gasoline and diesel tax hike,” Skillicorn told reporters. “Just when gas prices are finally lower right before the holidays, greedy politicians, like the Grinches they are, seem all too willing to take more of our hard-earned money. Nothing like greedy politicians to ruin the holidays for middle class families.”
The whole pay scale for fuel in Illinois is confusing and complicated. The 30 cent tax hike Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel proposed would be added to the 37 per gallon tax Illinois already has. However, an often overlooked or misunderstood cost for car drivers is the percentage sales tax that is added onto the total, making the overall cost even higher. The higher a gallon of gas costs, the more sales tax Illinois drivers pay, depending on where the gas is purchased – from 6.25% on the total cost to 10.25% sales tax on the total cost in Chicago.
"Illinois taxpayers pay a sales tax on the per gallon tax they pay," Skillicorn told Illinois Review. "It's a tax on a tax."
Raising the gas tax by 30 cents per gallon, which Mayor Rahm Emanuel has proposed, would mean Illinois would have the highest gas tax in the nation at more than 71 cents per gallon – about 22% higher than the next highest state of Pennsylvania. Then they would pay sales tax on that higher total.
“Illinois is already taxed enough,” Skillicorn said. “Just a year ago we hiked income taxes by 32 percent for individuals. We do not need more new taxes. In addition, many border communities and towns located adjacent to Interstates will be unfairly penalized by this hike. For example, the village President of Hampshire, IL, Jeff Magnussen, warns this hike will drive down crucial sales for his village and hurt his community. Rest assured this punitive tax would not only damage border communities, but it would hurt families across the state.”
Long-term, Skillicorn said the prudent course would be to work with our congressional delegation.
