32% Tax Increase For Illinois - Illinois Pays The Highest Property Tax In The Nation

Legislators are proud they came up with a "balanced" budget for the state of Illinois by increasing taxes. Governor Rauner vetoed the tax increase because it was a 32% tax increase with no real reforms. However legislators have trouble with math are telling constituents that the tax increase was only 1.2%-an increase from 3.76% to 4.95%.

I have spoken to several area residents and they have no clue how much this increase really is. An average family in Illinois will have a tax increase of $1,150.  In the final vote 10 Republicans in the House supported the tax increase, and one republican in the Senate. Originally when the tax increase first passed 15 House Republicans, voted for it. One was out of town for the veto override, and four pulled off the vote by Governor Rauner. To be sure, Speaker Madigan made up for the missing Republican votes by adding more Democratic votes for the final passage. 

The problem being, Speaker Madigan, evidently you don't understand the law of economics, you need money in the till to support the vote. Most Illinois citizens don't get the drift of the problem, even with a tax increase, the budget will be unsustainable because of uncontrolled pension costs.

One of the major flaws in the new budget is the requirement that Illinois public education moves to an "evidence based' model of school funding. This program will prescribe exactly how much money must be spent on  "everything" from instructional materials to employee benefits! 

This new budget WILL INCREASE the costs of education for Illinois schools an eventual estimated $3.5 to $6 Billion in tax-payer funding. Where, Speaker Madigan do you suppose that money is gong to come from?

We are already 13th in the nation in the amount of money spent per student. Ohio, North Dakota, Arkansas, and Wyoming have "evidence-based" funding and have collectively spent billions more in tax dollars. In these states they see no improvement in achievement tests and achievement levels have been flat.

Increasing income "input" into the existing establishment will not solve Illinois education problems. Illinois citizens already pay the highest property taxes in the nation, and should not have to spend more on education. To partly solve this problem, there must be pension reform and limits to executive pay to the bureaucracies in Illinois schools.

Given by permission Concerned Christians Newsletter

"Can The Tax Coalition" Fight For Unfair Beverage Tax

"Just because a judge has allowed this unfair tax to go forward does not mean Cook County should do it."

"This tax hits families, Cook County families with enormous price increases, place at risk 6,100 middle class jobs, harm 1.3 billion in economic activity, and will devastate our small businesses by sending shoppers to stores over the borders."
"Can The Tax Coalition"

A new tax has been voted by the Cook County Commission in Illinois. It can include up to 1,000 juice drinks, sports drinks, flavored water, iced tea, lemonade, and even diet drinks. I say even diet drinks because the law was to tax sugared products only.

The tax will hurt sales as people are refusing the tax which will range from 30% to 70% above the average cost of their drink. A two litter bottle of clear liquid drink which normally runs 99 cents can have a 67 cent tax on it. 

Can The Tax Coalition calls for a repeal of the Tax before it causes a fall of the economy and loss of jobs.

Many stores are already returning the products to the companies they came from because of products are not moving on the shelves.

My feeling is how can the government stop us from buying what we want to buy in a store? Are they not overstepping their authority and taxing something they have no business taxing as most items in a store are already taxed once. Does not this open Pandora's box for the government to make a second tax on anything they want to tax?

This is still America and the government is choosing for us what we should buy and not to buy. The last time I checked this is not Russia and people can buy what they want to buy and should not be hindered by a large tax on what they want. 

I am in agreement, the law needs to be repealed and taken away before it causes economic downfall. It's a bad tax and needs to be removed before it harms sales in Cook County