Dupage Policy Journal

Rep. Amy Grant (R-Wheaton) recently spoke out against the rising taxes in Illinois.

Illinois' property tax rate is the second highest in the nation at 2.27%, behind only New Jersey, according to a June report by Rocket Mortgage. The owner of a $194,500 home in Illinois will pay $4,942 annually in property taxes.

“I think taxes are way too high and we need to do more to give people relief,” Grant told the DuPage Policy Journal. “There a lot of people leaving now and much of it has to with taxes and how tired they are of paying these rates.”

The Rocket Mortgage report found that 30 states have property tax rates lower than 1%.

In addition to property taxes, gas taxes are also on the rise. Democrats passed legislation postponing this year's scheduled gas tax increase of 2.2 cents from July to January, Fox News reported. In 2019, Gov. J.B. Pritzker doubled Illinois' gas tax from 19 cents to 38 cents and instituted an annual gas tax increase.

The gas tax increase delay was part of a bundle of tax rebates and delays in the record $46.5 billion fiscal year 2023 budget, according to Illinois Policy. The tax rebates and delays will save the average Illinois family $556. The 2.2 cents gas tax increase in Jan. 2023 will be followed by another increase in July 2023, likely of 3.8 cents per gallon, bringing Illinois’ total gasoline tax up to 45.2 cents per gallon.

Grant doesn’t think the proposed tax relief measures will be enough for her constituents.

“Taxes are still too high for many of them and they're not happy about it,” Grant said. “Some are concerned about what the future holds and people are getting a little bit more nervous.”

A March report by WalletHub found that Illinois has the tenth overall highest tax burden in the nation at 9.7%. The report weighed property, income, sales and excise taxes.