Americans for Prosperity Launches Campaign Against Lake County Gas Tax Hike

Mar 3, 2021 by AFP

Proposal Would Result in Lake County Gas Tax Increasing by 140% in the Last Two Years

SPRINGFIELD, IL—Americans for Prosperity-Illinois (AFP-IL) today announced a campaign to educate Lake County constituents on the proposed Motor Fuel Tax that will be voted on at next week’s Lake County Board meeting. The board will be considering a proposal to implement an additional 8 cent per gallon tax on all gas sold in Lake County.

“Some Lake County board members are recklessly pushing this gas tax increase proposal based on the horribly outdated 2040 transportation plan, which estimates a population explosion of 250,000 more people in Lake County by 2040. These board members haven’t done their homework to see Lake County’s population is actually declining, in large part due to the county’s high taxes. Now they want to make the high-tax problem worse, ” Brian Costin, AFP-IL Deputy State Director, said.

The proposed motor fuel tax increase would be the third Lake County residents have faced in the last two years. The proposal would raise the motor fuel tax to 46.7 cent per gallon of fuel. It was just 19 cents per gallon until a little over a year ago when the state doubled the tax which made Illinois’ gas tax the third highest in the nation. 52% of the 2019 gas tax increase is already going to counties, municipalities, townships and mass transit agencies. This is in addition to the additional funding for more state transit projects in Lake County with the remainder of the gas tax and the vehicle registration fee increase.

AFP-IL will be educating residents about the proposed tax through robust grassroots outreach and digital efforts ahead of next week’s county board vote.

For further information or an interview, reach Nicole Tardif at NTardif@afphq.org or (571) 329-0161.