Prairie State Wire

Illinois residents will likely see the second spike in gas price taxes this year starting in July, making the state one of the most expensive places to buy gas in the country.

"Before I became governor, Illinois was struggling with a budget standoff, unpaid bills, and cuts to social services across our state," Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker wrote in a June 10 Twitter post. "Under my leadership, we’re balancing our budgets, paying down our debt, keeping our promises, and investing in what matters most — Illinoisans."

According to an article by the Illinois Policy Institute, gas prices are expected to spike and gas prices will be 6.2 cents higher during the upcoming Fourth of July weekend than they were in Christmas. As part of the Pritzker's election-year package of tax relief measures, he delayed the annual gas tax hike last year and split it into two raises: one 3.1 cent increase which occurred on Jan. 1 and the second 3.1 increase scheduled to take effect on July 1.

In 2019, Pritzker signed legislation that doubled the state's gas tax from 19 to 38 cents to help pay for $45 billion in infrastructure projects, according to the Illinois Policy Institute. Part of the legislation includes automatic adjustments for inflation adjustments that happen every July 1, meaning voting isn't required to raise the rate. The upcoming increase will raise the state's gas tax to 45.5 cents per gallon, the biggest increase over a 12-month span since Pritzker signed the bill in 2019.

A breakdown of other gas taxes is shown in an infographic tweeted by former Illinois House Representative Jeanne Ives. It shows the federal tax of 18.4 cents per gallon, the state tax part A which will be 45.4 center per gallon as of July 1, and state tax part B which equals the average cost/gallon in 2022 times 6.25%, or 23.1 cents per gallon. This totals a minimum of 86.9 cents of tax on each gallon of gas in Illinois. Several areas of the state have other local gas taxes for city road project funds, and motorists in Cook County pay an additional county tax on their fuel.

Pritzker shared several tweets on the latest state budget, passed in early June. Along with that, he promoted the plan for electric vehicles in the state. “We’re charging toward an electric future in Illinois! Our state is putting a million electric vehicles on the road by 2030 and that begins by producing the infrastructure needed to support them. Now, let’s keep our foot on the accelerator.”

“What a lie,” Ives commented on this concept, sharing her concern of the lack of market involvement in the process. “If that were true, then they'd let the market build it, like gas stations, instead of huge subsidies. $12.6 million for 387 charging stations=$32k/station.”