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 For any Illinois state lawmakers thinking about raising
gasoline taxes as much as 30 cents a gallon, southwestern Illinois drivers have
a simple message: Don’t.
They said they are already overtaxed, and already fill up in nearby St. Louis
when possible.
“It’s stupid. When you’ve got a state 15 miles away with cheaper gas, you’re not
going to get any of that business here,” said Art Gantner as he filled up in his
hometown of Belleville, Illinois. “They need to remember they are driving people
away from the state instead of bringing business in, same way as with the
cigarette tax. All these taxes are on the middle-class people all the time.”
Lawmakers fail to fight for real solutions such as balancing the budget and just
fall back on tax hikes, said Mike Whittimore, also of Belleville.
“It fascinates me that with all the challenges our state has that they think
increasing taxes is the best possible solution to their problems, especially on
a consumable like gas that we need to get to work, to be a family and to live
our lives,” Whittimore said.
Higher taxes drive shoppers and eventually employers and jobs out of Illinois,
something Robert Forsyth, president of Moto Inc., understands after investing
heavily in his 79th convenience store, locating it in his corporate hometown of
Belleville. He said the new store is a risk.
“This part of the state is not an attractive economic environment. Manufacturing
is not doing well, lots of business are impacted by higher taxes,” he said.
If Illinois imposes a 30-cent gasoline tax hike, that will mean Missouri
stations will on average get a 50-cent per gallon advantage, according to
research from the nonpartisan Tax Foundation. Illinois’ gas tax would be far
higher than every neighboring state under such a hike, not just Missouri.
Forsyth said the current 20-cent difference with Missouri already makes a big
impact.
“Go over to our MotoMart on Riverview Drive, the first stop in Missouri, and
look at all the license plates from Illinois,” said Forsyth, whose gas and
convenience stores operate in six Midwest states. “People underestimate the
economic impact of people choosing to buy gas out of Illinois, and they will
make a trip to do that.”
More than 800,000 people live in Illinois counties that border Missouri,
according to 2016 Census estimates.
In addition to Missouri, Illinois already charges more in gas taxes than
neighboring Wisconsin, Iowa and Kentucky. Meanwhile, drivers in Indiana and
Michigan see average gas taxes that are about 5 cents and 7 cents per gallon
higher than in Illinois, respectively. Both states rank in the top 10 nationally
for average state and local gas taxes.
Forsyth said raising the gas tax heavily impacts border areas, which are already
suffering economically. He said drivers making the trip to Missouri not only buy
gas, but also cigarettes that are nearly $2-a-pack cheaper and then go shopping,
especially in the St. Louis area.
He said gas tax proponents are not looking honestly at the numbers, because they
use a non-dynamic model that just looks at the tax revenue. They fail to account
for the loss of gas sales to other states, for those other purchases and for
taxation’s drag on the Illinois economy.
He said Illinois residents with mass transit don’t understand how harmful gas
taxes are to lower income people, especially in rural areas.
“Those folks can’t afford fuel-efficient vehicles like I’ve got,” he said. “Not
only do gas taxes take a higher percentage of their resources, but they are
driving the used gas guzzlers I was driving 10 years ago.”
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He said Springfield lawmakers need to face reality.
“If they think they can tax their way out of this
Illinois mess, they are crazy,” Forsyth said. “Missouri has a
constitutional amendment mandating a balanced budget and must make
gut-wrenching decisions every year. Illinois just keeps spending and
asking for more as they kick the can down the road. What a mess.”
Jane Petrovi, of Fairview Heights, was filling up at Forsyth’s new
station in Belleville, but said that’s unusual for her. She said it
won’t happen at all if the gas tax increases 30 cents per gallon,
the high end of outgoing Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s proposal.
“They need to cut the payroll instead of increasing taxes,” Petrovi
said. “They need to be more financially responsible, like we all
need to be when we don’t have the money.”
Marsha Douglas, of Belleville, is less likely to drive to Missouri
to get gas. She said a new tax bite would force her to drive less.
“It would be a big effect on my family. I just wouldn’t go anywhere
too much beyond work and back,” she said.
Illinoisans on average already pay the 10th-highest gas tax in the
nation at an average of 37.3 cents per gallon, according to the Tax
Foundation. Illinois is one of the few states to pile its state and
local sales taxes atop its gas taxes – effectively double-taxing
drivers at the pump. A 30-cent increase would push Illinois gas
taxes well past the current top taxer, Pennsylvania, which averaged
58.7 cents last year.
Nel Millas, of Swansea, said Illinois residents are already
overtaxed and she definitely opposed any gasoline tax increase.
“Seems like lawmakers are taking advantage of us,” she said.
“Taxpayers pay their fair share already.”
Illinois has not passed a capital funding bill since 2009. Other
states provide state-of-the-art infrastructure in low-tax
environments as high-tax Illinois falls behind, which raises
questions about how Springfield spends existing tax dollars.
In 2017, a federal investigation into hundreds of “staff assistant”
hires made at the Illinois Department of Transportation found the
agency for years was doling out patronage jobs to politically
connected applicants. The agency pushed candidates through the
application process with “‘little or no regard’ for actual hiring
need, or whether the candidate was qualified for the job,” according
to the Chicago Tribune.
In September, the Daily Herald reported the Illinois State Toll
Highway Authority board chair had awarded six-figure positions to
six political allies totaling nearly $916,000. The agency had also
contracted with firms staffed with officials’ family relatives and
former political associates for hundreds of millions of dollars.
Fixing patronage and corruption might not be enough to pay for
Illinois’ infrastructure needs, but state lawmakers should fix waste
and abuse of existing tax dollars before asking drivers for new gas
taxes.
A high tax burden is the No. 1 reason Illinoisans say they want to
leave the state, and Illinois has seen five consecutive years of
population loss. Higher gasoline taxes will not just send people
across state lines for a bargain, they may drive them away forever.
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