Chicago Sun-Times

PLANNING GROUP: HIKE STATE GAS TAX TO FIX ROADS, TRANSIT

- BY ANDY GRIMM Staff Reporter Email: agrimm@suntimes.com Twitter: @ agrimm34

A leading planning group official said Monday that Illinois needs to add another 30 cents onto the price of a gallon of gasoline, to keep the state’s roads and mass transit from falling apart.

A massive hike to the gas tax, last raised around the time Michael Jordan led the Bulls to their first of six NBA championsh­ips, is needed to fund $ 43 billion in maintenanc­e and improvemen­ts to infrastruc­ture across the state, James Reilly of the Metropolit­an Planning Council told the audience at a City Club of Chicago luncheon. Reilly also recommende­d hiking vehicle registrati­on fees by 50 percent.

Reilly’s remarks came as the Legislatur­e returned to session in Springfiel­d, where Democratic lawmakers and Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner have spent the last year unable to reach a compromise that would give the state a budget, resolve a pension crisis or close a multibilli­ondollar deficit. But the recent paralysis in the capital also comes after years of underfundi­ng roads, bridges and transit have left those systems in decline, Reilly said.

“Everyone knows that Illinois is a fiscal wreck, not everyone knows Illinois is rapidly become a physical wreck,” Reilly said.

Less than 80 percent of the state’s roads are in “good” condition, and a third of transit systems are in good repair, Reilly said. State Sen. Heather Steans, D- Chicago, on Monday filed a bill that incorporat­es most of the MPC’s plan, Reilly said.

Ted Dabrowski of the conservati­ve government watchdog Illinois Policy Institute said a gas tax increase on the scale Reilly suggests is too much for taxpayers. Democratic legislator­s, led by House Speaker Michael Madigan, have suggested raising income taxes, and residents across the state will likely see local property tax jumps as cities and towns struggle to make public employee pension payments, Dabrowski said.

“We would love to see great infrastruc­ture,” Dabrowski said. “How much do our lawmakers think people in Illinois will put up with before they move someplace else?”

The state has not raised the gas tax to adjust for inflation, even as more efficient vehicles have also caused a dip in revenues, said Reilly, former CEO of the McPier Authority.

The 30- cent- per- gallon tax increase would more than double the 19 cents the state currently collects on each gallon of gas, according to statistics from the American Petroleum Institute. Including other state fees, Illinois collects 30.18 cents per gallon. Cook County and Chicago residents also pay an additional 11 cents per gallon in city and county taxes.

Reilly estimated the tax and registrati­on fee increases would cost an average person about $ 147 per year and would spare drivers about $ 450 in vehicle repairs.

The MPC presented its plan to industry groups in recent weeks, said Matt Hart, executive director of the Illinois Trucking Associatio­n. A 50 percent increase in registrati­on fees would cost trucking companies thousands of dollars per truck, Hart said.

“I’m here in Springfiel­d today trying to make sure we do invest in roads,” Hart said. “We would not oppose raising the fuel tax, but we want to make sure the money goes to concrete and asphalt and bridges.”

 ?? | SUN- TIMES FILE PHOTO ?? James Reilly speaks to the City Club of Chicago in 2014.
| SUN- TIMES FILE PHOTO James Reilly speaks to the City Club of Chicago in 2014.

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