Income Tax Hike on the Way?

AP Photo/M. Spencer Green

Yes, even in Illinois - state motto: "We tax the shit out of everything" - there's always room to raise taxes. This morning, the Tribune is reporting that Governor Quinn is considering a plan that would raise Illinois' state income tax by half, from 3 percent to 4.5 percent. According to the Trib's source, such a hike would also include a hike in the corporate income tax on businesses, but would be softened by raising the standard $2,000 tax exemption to $6,000. If implemented, it would be the first income tax hike for Illinois in 20 years; the rate was raised from 2.5 percent to 3 percent in 1989. Critics suggest Quinn will have to tread carefully lest he severely damage his chances in 2010. Quinn is due to present his budget plan to the state legislature next Wednesday.

But those aren't the only taxes that have been floated recently:

• Yesterday a proposal to raise the state gas tax, which was a hot topic of debate here not too long ago, cleared a hurdle when a state house committee voted 8-5 in favor of raising the gas tax from 19 cents to 27 cents a gallon.
• With their debt skyrocketing, the Chicago Public Schools have hinted that an increase in the property tax may help provide more money for the struggling system. Chicago Board of Education president Michael Scott said, "I can say with some degree of certainty that the revenue will have to come from some place, and I suspect [a property tax hike] that's where it will come from, at least some of it."
• And will there be a need to raise taxes to support Chicago's 2016 Olympics bid? Naaaaaaaah.