I Understand That The People In Springfield Raised The IL Gas Tax $0.19/gal Which Doubles.....

[global1]

the current gas tax. The new gas tax per gallon will be $0.38 per gal.

I'm pissed about this as we already pay more gas tax than most cities in this country.

Does anybody know when this tax will go into effect?

What are your feelings about this?

[Kurt V.]

1. gas tax increases in general are aimed at certain legislative funding.

[guillaumeb]

2. July 1.

Given how bad the roads are, what alternative would you suggest?

[snowybirdie]

3. Just drove

from Fl to Illinois. Roads were fair in most states, but awful once we crossed into Illinois. Rather pay tax than have to repair my car every few months.

[guillaumeb]

8. Exactly.

Paying taxes is part of living in a civilized country.

[frazzled]

4. I'm all for paying more, since all the revenue will go to

Infrastructure improvements across the state.

We all need to pitch in to keep our roads and bridges safe. That said, I worry about low income individuals who have long job commutes, because this will impact them disproportionally. Perhaps, on the bright side, this will lead to more carpooling or use of public transit, which will help with carbon emissions and decrease the glut of traffic on our streets. Look on the bright side!

For myself, it doesn’t affect much: we have a Prius that is usually filled only once every 3 or 4 weeks. That’s 10 gallons at an extra 18 cents a gallon. I won’t feel it. Others will.

[marble falls]

5. Gas taxes actually do benefit infrastructure.

[samnsara]

6. here in Wash state its high as well..

...the total per gallon gas tax in Washington is now 62.9 cents.

Just the State tax is 44.2 cents.

[chicago guy]

7. Gas Tax

The last increase in Illinois gas tax was in 1992! Why did it take so long to increase the tax, we needed road work long ago. Now maybe some of the roads will be repaired! The Republican plan was and is to turn all of the highways into toll roads. Either way you pay.

[guillaumeb]

9. Welcome to DU.

Great points.

[ColesCountyDem]

10. There's been no increase in 27 years.

In that 27 years, fuel efficiency has increased substantially, meaning people drive farther on the same gasoline being taxed for 19 cents/gallon. Construction costs have increased greatly in that same period. Illinois cannot maintain roads and bridges while receiving much, much less revenue per-mile.