(Ed Note: Our apologies – we mistakenly wrote the hike is .18 cents per gallon. It is instead .19 cents)
Next Monday, every driver in the state of Illinois will be paying 19 cents more per gallon in fuel taxes – and that means it will cost nearly $2.00 more to fill up a 10-gallon tank than it did Sunday. It's all to fund "capital improvements" throughout the state – and if you haven't been paying attention, Democrat districts will be getting twice as much "capital improvement" than Republican districts. Why? Because they felt like it.
There's likely to be a cranky bunch of people gathering at the pumps Monday morning … who will then proceed to be delayed as construction projects slow down traffic as people drive to work to make dollars to pay for the taxes they just paid. And on and on it goes – especially in the state of Illinois.
HOW DID YOUR IL SENATOR VOTE ON THE GAS TAX HIKE?
HOW DID YOUR IL STATE REP VOTE ON THE GAS TAX HIKE?
There is no one that explains Illinois' plunging economic situation and overall mood better than Ted Dabrowski and John Klinger of Wirepoints (except Mark Glennon, another Wirepoints guy). Their take on this crisis is a must read:
Expect the doubling of Illinois gas taxes to anger Illinoisans this summer. The state’s motor fuel tax on July 1 will increase to 38 cents per gallon from 19 cents currently. The state says the tax, which has not been increased since 1990, will fund capital improvements throughout the state.
Illinoisans have long been frustrated by higher gas prices in Illinois. In addition to paying the motor fuel tax, Illinoisans also pay a 6.25 percent state sales tax on gasoline purchases. Many residents also pay additional city and county sales taxes. Illinois is only one of seven states to hit consumers with a sales tax at the gas pump.
The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy just published the list of states hiking gas taxes effective July 1, 2019, and unsurprisingly Illinois tops the list.
This state’s 19 cent jump is nearly double that of Ohio’s and nearly quadruple that of California’s.
Read the rest of Wirepoints' take HERE.
