Will County Gazette

Homer Township Supervisor and Will County board member Steve Balich is decrying the state’s second-highest in the nation gas tax, now that fuel prices are soaring amid the Ukrainian conflict. 

“Besides the gas tax that we have from the state, we also have a sales tax that goes on at all.," Balich told Will County Gazette. "So the more the price goes up, the higher the sales tax cost, the gas tax. So there's a double tax on that.” 

"So $0.79 cents, if you take 79 cents off that, that's and get 10 gallons, just $7.90," he further remarked. "That makes up the cost of a loaf of bread now, or a pound of hamburger that costs $4 on sale. You know, this whole thing is ridiculous. The government is trying to bankrupt everybody and the people that make the least amount of money, like what we would call low-income people, they get hit the hardest, they get crushed. If they're making $13 an hour, well, the cost of the food went up more than what they're making. Look at how much the inflation rate is.”

Balich is not an idle critic. Since he took over the Homer Township Supervisor position he has decreased the city’s tax levy by 20 percent, Will County Gazette previously reported.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said that Illinoisans deserve to have a lesser gas tax, noting that the war in Ukraine has added to the problem, mystateline.com reported.

In February Pritzker suggested a gas tax freeze, but has not acted on the budget proposal. He was behind the push to double the gas tax early in his term, Madison-St. Clair Record previously reported.

Illinoisans pay 77.96 cents per gallon for taxes alone, according to Illinois Policy. That is federal and state taxes combined. Across the border to the west, Missouri pays the second-lowest gas tax. In Illinois, a gallon of gas costs 42 cents more than in Missouri due to differing tax policies.