CHICAGO – “With Chicago boasting the highest gas prices of any city in the country,” said Jim Tobin, President of Taxpayers United of America (TUA), “taxpayers may be surprised to learn that their pain at the pump isn’t helping the roads in Illinois.”
Instead, the biggest portion of their gasoline tax burden is directed towards the state’s general fund, to pay for the salaries and lavish pensions of government employees. That’s because the biggest portion of the gasoline burden is the Illinois sales tax. At 6.5% statewide, the sales tax is now taking over 20 cents from every gallon of gasoline purchased, and the money doesn’t make it back to transportation. Read more →
The Vice-President of Taxpayers United of America (TUA) today admonished those in Illinois’ legal system and news media to hold Chicago Mayor-elect Rahm Emanual (D) and Ill. Gov. Patrick Quinn (D) to the same standard of behavior as former Governor Rod Blagojevich (D).
“Former Governor Blagojevich is aggressively being tried a second time for allegedly offering a U.S. Senate seat for $50,000,” said Christina Tobin, Vice-President of TUA. “Yet Rahm Emanual, scheduled to take office on May 16 as Mayor of Chicago, reportedly offered $50,000 to his tenant, Rob Halpin, as an ‘inducement’ for him to vacate his house prior to the expiration of the lease, so Emanual could move back in and present a more convincing case that he was a ‘resident’ of Chicago.” Read more →
CHICAGO – The latest figures from the U.S. Department of Energy show that Chicago has now surpassed San Francisco and Los Angeles for the nation’s highest gasoline price per gallon. Just one week ago, Chicago trailed both cities at the pump. It is not the oil companies, however, that specifically targeted Chicago citizens with the “over the top” gas prices, –Chicago politicians did.
According to the American Petroleum Institute (API), the nationwide average tax on gasoline is 48.1 cents per gallon (cpg), which includes a federal excise tax of 18.4 cpg. In Illinois the average tax on gasoline is 61.2 cpg overall. In Chicago, however, it is far worse. In addition to the state excise tax (19 cpg), Cook County’s fuel tax (6 cpg), Chicago’s local tax (5 cpg), and numerous other taxes (underground storage tank fee, environmental impact fee), Illinois allows for sales taxes to be collected on the retail price of gasoline as well. The sales tax in Chicago is 9.75%. This means that Chicago citizens now pay well over 80 cents in taxes per gallon of gasoline purchased. It also means that, thanks to the sales tax, the taxpayer’s burden increases as oil prices rise. Read more →
