Just in time for Independence Day travel, drivers will face Illinois’ latest gasoline tax hike. Gov. J.B. Pritzker has added 29 cents per gallon since 2019 – costing the average driver $143 more per year.
By Rich Witzel | Illinois Policy Institute
Independence Day travel is expected to set a record in Illinois, with 4.2 million total travelers and most of them – 3.86 million – hitting the roads.
That makes Gov. J.B. Pritzker happy: his latest gas tax hike to 48.3 cents per gallon hits July 1. The holiday travel will translate into $3.82 million in state gas taxes, based on U.S. averages for fuel efficiency and holiday mileage.
That is, if drivers buy their gas in Illinois. Buying gas in Wisconsin or Iowa would save about 50 cents a gallon. Missouri gas was 64 cents cheaper and Indiana 22 cents cheaper heading into the holiday travel period.
The difference is taxes, with Illinois charging the nation’s second-highest rate.
Pritzker doubled the state gas tax from 19 cents in 2019 and set an automatic annual inflation adjustment so state lawmakers would no longer be held responsible for the unpopular tax hikes. With the July 1 hike, motorists are paying 29 cents a gallon more than before Pritzker’s boost to support his $45 billion infrastructure bill.
Each year, Pritzker’s gas tax hike costs drivers $143 more than they paid before he imposed it.
More here.
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