Pritzker’s gas tax hike doubles yearly take to nearly $2B

Illinois drivers are expected to pay nearly $2 billion in state gas taxes by the end of the year, more than twice what they paid before Gov. J.B. Pritzker took office and doubled the tax. Pritzker’s tax hike took $4 billion extra from drivers between 2019 and 2023.

Illinois drivers are on track to pay $1.97 billion in state gas taxes this year, more than twice what they spent before Gov. J.B. Pritzker took office and doubled the gas tax.

Illinois Department of Revenue data shows drivers paid about $922 million in state gas taxes in 2018 before Pritzker became governor. In 2019 he doubled the tax on gasoline and gasohol from 19 cents to 38 cents per gallon.

By the end of Pritzker’s first year in office, Illinoisans were paying $1.35 billion in gas taxes – 47% more revenue than the previous year. They now pay the second-highest gas tax rate in the nation.

State revenues have increases as Pritzker’s automatic inflationary adjustments kicked in each July, driving the tax from 38 cents to the current 47 cents per gallon. Putting the gas tax hikes on autopilot allows state lawmakers to escape responsibility for imposing unpopular tax hikes.

Analysis shows Illinois drivers paid $4 billion more in state gas taxes between 2019 and 2023 than they would have had Pritzker not doubled it and introduced the annual hikes.

Illinois motorists can expect to pay approximately $328 a year in state gas taxes alone based on American Petroleum Institute gas usage estimates.

The complex structure of Illinois’ gas taxes includes multiple components: the state motor fuel excise tax, a prepaid sales tax and various fees. This is further compounded by federal taxes and additional local taxes in some areas. For instance, gas in Chicago comes with an extra city gas tax plus a Cook County gas tax and higher sales taxes.

Illinois is one of the few states that applies a sales tax to gasoline after the motor fuel tax, effectively taxing drivers on the taxes they already paid for the gas.

Some Illinois drivers opt to fill up out of state or at least outside of Chicago and Cook County. But for many, Illinois gas taxes remain a regressive way for state leaders to take money from struggling families needing to get to work or to transport children, often with older vehicles that are less fuel efficient.

Illinois lawmakers and Pritzker need to be accountable for the $4 billion extra they’ve taken from drivers. That starts with eliminating the automatic inflationary gas tax adjustments and holding public votes when they want to hike gas taxes.