Dupage Policy Journal

Nine law enforcement agencies throughout Illinois soon will be required to purchase body cameras for their officers and Sen. Craig Wilcox (R-McHenry) predicts tax hikes will be needed to pay for them. 

“For counties with populations over 500,000, the mandatory use of police body cameras takes effect on January 1, 2022. This includes Lake County," Wilcox said in his post. "When passing this bill, Democrats did not provide a revenue stream for this extremely costly mandate, so our police departments will have to find a way to fund it themselves. That usually means a tax increase."

In addition to Lake County, this mandate will apply to Chicago, as well as Cook, DuPage, Kane, and Will counties. The new law mandates that every officer in the state will be required to wear a body camera by the year 2025. 

A March 18 report by the Tax Foundation reports that Illinois had the 10th-highest tax burden in the nation in 2019, with over 11% of residents’ income going to pay state and local taxes. Among all states in the U.S., state-local tax burdens averaged 10.3% of national income. 

According to a report by Illinois Policy, in his three years in office, Gov. J.B. Pritzker has imposed 24 tax and fee increases, bringing in about $5.2 billion. These increases included doubling the motor fuel tax in 2019, increasing vehicle registration fees by $50 and increasing the tax on cigarettes, e-cigarettes and video game consoles.