Illinois vs. Missouri
Scott Reeder Illinois News Network Do folks in the Show-Me State have a greater love of taxes than in the Land of Lincoln? Well, at first blush, thats what you might think if you looked at the results of a study Americans for Prosperity shared with me. Voters in both states went to the polls...
Scott Reeder
Illinois News Network
Do folks in the Show-Me State have a greater love of taxes than in the Land of Lincoln?
Well, at first blush, thats what you might think if you looked at the results of a study Americans for Prosperity shared with me.
Voters in both states went to the polls a few days apart this spring and voted on a host of local tax referendums.
In Illinois, voters rejected 60 of the 106 tax referendums put on local ballots. On the other hand, in Missouri voters rejected 68 of 272 referendums. Thats a 57 percent rejection rate in Illinois to Missouris 25 percent rejection rate.
Why the difference?
Illinoisans are overtaxed, contends David From, Illinois director for Americans for Prosperity.
People have more of a tolerance of local taxes because people want their schools to be good. They also want to have good parks, he said. It more directly affects their lives so they should be more likely to support taxes. And, frankly, there is less organized opposition so its easier to pass taxes on a local level.
But in Illinois unemployment is high, the median household income has dropped and state income taxes went up 67 percent two years ago. People are just tapped out and still they are being asked to pay more. I think the result we see is people are just saying enough is enough.