“Look at how much of the Illinois state budget is gobbled up by employee pensions, $10.1 billion of $53 billion,” notes economist Chris Edwards of the Cato Institute. By contrast, public safety — the core function of state and local government — accounts for less than $3 billion.
“Despite Illinois having among the highest property taxes in the country, Illinois legislators are advancing measures that would allow for more property tax increases. Illinoisans already pay the second highest property taxes in the country, behind New Jersey,” reports The Center Square. “The House Revenue and Finance Committee advanced several measures that would allow for increases in property tax levies. House Bill 1075 would allow villages and townships to increase theirs for museums….Another [bill] would allow for a voter referendum to increase taxes for private ambulance costs.”
“Illinois ranks among the worst states in the nation for economic outlook and its high tax burden continues to drive residents out of the state, according to a new report. Jonathan Williams, a co-author of the American Legislative Exchange Council report, said in the last Rich States, Poor States report the group did, Illinois ranked 46th. Now, Illinois ranks 48th in the nation for economic outlook.”
“Between the tax rates not going down and keeping up with the tax-cutting revolution that’s happening across the country as well as the size and scope of government growing relative to the loss of population can explain that loss [in rank] this year,” Williams said.
“Illinois is obviously one of the biggest out-migration states in America. Now down almost 1.1 million people net over the last 10 years. In this net domestic out-migration, that so many people have seen firsthand, Illinois now relatively has a larger government as a percentage of its population,” said Williams.
A recent “study confirms what most Illinoisans already know, the property taxes in the state are among the highest in the nation,” reports Center Square. Illinois should have low tax rates, due to its inherited good fortune and historically large tax base — but it doesn’t. Back before Illinois was captured by the hard left, its greatest city, Chicago, developed into one of America’s most prosperous industrial, financial, and commodities centers. Even today, Chicago is one of the world’s top ten financial centers. Back in 1950, over 40% of all people in Illinois lived in Chicago, and over half lived in Cook County, which includes Chicago.
But today, high levels of wasteful spending and public employee pensions have resulted in high sales tax rates in places like Cook County, which has a minimum sales tax rate of over 10%. In most Illinois counties, the sales tax rate is also rather high:
The latest Tax Foundation report on sales taxes details how Illinois is now home to the highest combined state and average local sales tax in the Midwest.
Illinois’ combined state and local sales tax rate of 8.85% placed the Land of Lincoln at No. 7 nationwide in 2024.
Illinois is showering taxpayer money on left-wing public-employee unions that help elect Democrats. When Illinois began paying illegal aliens’ healthcare costs, it cost far more than the state expected, and it had to cap the number of illegal aliens it covered, to keep spending down to $550 million rather than rapidly increasing to over $1 billion.
