By: Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner
As gas prices jump in Illinois, so do the gas taxes Illinoisans must pay. Illinois is one of just four states to impose a general state sales tax on gasoline, and that’s helped push Illinois’ gas taxes to the 2nd-highest in the nation, according to the American Petroleum Institute.
Illinoisans pay an additional 6.25% for every gallon of gas, on top of the standard excise taxes that were doubled in 2019. Hawaii, Indiana and Michigan are the only other states that apply their general sales taxes to gasoline.
Just over a month ago, Wirepoints reported that Illinois gas taxes were still the nation’s 3rd-highest, a position the state has held since lawmakers hiked the excise tax in 2019.
But this summer’s higher gas prices have pushed Illinois to second place as of July 1st, surpassing Pennsylvania’s own sky-high taxes by about a cent.
Now Illinois is only behind California, whose residents pay both the highest gas prices and gas taxes in the nation. Illinoisans, meanwhile, paid the 11th-most for a gallon of gas as of July 30th, according to AAA.
For comparison, Wisconsin and Iowa’s gas prices are about 40 cents lower than Illinois’, while Kentucky and Missouri’s prices are about 50 cents cheaper. Indiana’s prices are 30 cents lower.
Chalk this up as another failed policy in Illinois that causes Illinoisans to cross the border to spend their money in neighboring states.
A set of state lawmakers want to extend CPS’ current school closing moratorium to February 1, 2027 – the same year CPS is set to transition to a fully-elected school board. That means schools like Manley High School, with capacity for more than 1,000 students but enrollment of just 78, can’t be closed for anther three years. The school spends $45,000 per student, but just 2.4% of students read at grade level.
Hopefully, all media will get the message, in Illinois, too.
Ted joined Tom Miller of WJPF to talk about Illinois’ highest-in-the-nation property taxes, why lawmakers don’t want to touch the tax’s cost drivers, just how much Illinoisans’ tax burden has grown over the decades, why Gov. Pritzker failed to meet his promise to reform property taxes, and more.
keep voting Democrat!
GOP voted for gas tax increase too
Drove to Mantowish Waters WI last week, gas was .40 to .60 cheaper and I could find pure gas with no ethanol, my Toyota with 300K miles on it loves that pure gas, not the alcohol watered down crap here. Stocked up the cabin with food from the grocery on Ojibwa reservation, $200 of food, no tax whatsoever.
Is there anyway to tell what has been the benefit to drivers for paying these higher taxes and fees? I do not see any improvement in the roads here in Central Illinois. Most remain untouched, and in poor condition, since the tax and fee increase of the Pritzker reign. Is the state simply pocketing the higher ‘user fees’?
Cheapest gas in California today was $4.19. I was watching the grapes grow on the beautiful vineyards…better than corn…just saying…
So you are wealthy enough to live in Cali with vineyards views, and your dismissal of the concerns of working class people who need to decrease other household spending in order to pay ever-higher taxes so that they can drive to jobs which may not allow them to sip wine on their patios with bucolic vistas of an afternoon…is just sayin’…what?
yea,california,the only state WORSE than Illinois
The logic behind gas prices if properly assessed, which is sound, is about user fees. Those who consume the roads should pay for them. But what has happened is the tax, as Illinois calculates it, is inflated by the Fed, which is feeding inflation, in total disregard of this and all the other consequences. The Fed is crazy and the way we assess this tax is crazy.
Folks drive right through the state and don’t stop till Illinois prices are in the rear view mirror. A generation of arriving full and leaving empty has sent tax money elsewhere. Have you seen Missouri’s roads?
tax ,tax,tax,fee,fee,fee ,yet this s-hole state is still broke and in the red!?-wake up you dummys that continually vote for these democrat slime balls,oh yeah,i forgot,the democrat leaches keep promising “free” stuff,theres really no hope with the chicago voters!-“give me my free stuff”!-huh chicago voters!!
Illinois Gop voted for gas tax increase too.
im not just blaming the Dems in illinois,the Illinois republicans are pretty much a joke also
I drove to Wisconsin recently and was surprised when premium gas was 70 cents/gal cheaper up there. Savings on one tank of gas pays for lunch.
$2.92 at Shell with 5 cents discount in Beloit also 5.5% sales tax at stores.
Filled up today in Beloit @ $2.96.9, on Riverside
I cross the Mississippi and save. I rarely buy gas in IL.
The politicians gone wild ! They lose their minds when they get to Springfield. There must be something in the water there !
Other than vote, what else can the average Illinois citizen/resident do ?!
Move
We get it. You have been living on the government dole and don’t pay taxes. Idiot.